Kindle

Kindle FreeTime: Now With OverDrive

Great news for parents!! OverDrive e-books are now available for use with Kindle FreeTime!

What is Kindle FreeTime?  According to howtogeek.com, Amazon’s Kindle FreeTime is “the most sophisticated and comprehensive parental control suite available for any tablet.” Unlike other parental control suites, FreeTime “outright reskins the device and turns it into a completely self-contained and kid-friendly tablet.” Furthermore, each child in the home can have their own age-appropriate profile that offers an interface, a separate application, and a media list.

OverDrive’s post on the topic provides additional details:

FreeTime content is separated into educational or entertainment categories. Parents are able to set daily educational goals for reading and learning, and with ‘Learn First’ can require that those goals are met before their child is able to watch cartoons or play games. In addition, parents can set how much time may be spent on any given activity – video, games, or reading – or an overall amount of time a child may use the device. Kids are unable to exit FreeTime without a password.

Now parents and kids can borrow OverDrive e-books and add them to a Kindle FreeTime profile, taking advantage of the same parental controls and educational goal-setting that FreeTime offers for other activities.

Library e-books may be added to FreeTime profiles by following these instructions, or through the “Manage Content & Subscription” section in FreeTime by taking the following steps:

  1. On the Start screen for FreeTime, tap “Manage Content & Subscription.”
  2. Tap “Add titles to [name of profile]’s Library.”
  3. Select “Books” from the dropdown menu.
  4. Check the box next to the desired title and tap “Done” in the upper right corner. The title will be added.

Be sure to share this with patrons who might be interested, and don’t forget to tell them about the eReading Room for kids too!

Mary Lee (Northland)

 

Continue ReadingKindle FreeTime: Now With OverDrive

It’s Easy to Help!

Did you know that it’s possible to email OverDrive help pages to people?  It’s an easy way to provide the information they need to answer their questions or resolve their issues.

Once you click through to a specific help page you will find a “MailTo” link in the upper right corner.  An email message will open with a link to the document you are viewing.  Just add their email address and your comments and hit send.  Voilà, your patron has easy access to what they need, and you don’t have to worry about losing them when you try to walk them through the process of getting there.

Take a closer look at that image up there.  I used it specifically because it’s all about loading the OverDrive Media Console (OMC) App on a Nook.  This is a recent development, so be sure to check out the steps here.

It was also recently announced that the OMC App is now available in the Amazon App Store, making it easy to load it onto a Kindle Fire.  Why would a patron want to do that, you might ask?  Two reasons: the option to browse for titles within the app rather than going through the library’s website, and, perhaps more importantly, the ability to bypass transferring Penguin books via USB by downloading the ePub version in the OMC app.

Sarah (CLP)

Continue ReadingIt’s Easy to Help!

Early Return of Kindle eBooks

Several people have recently asked if it is possible to return Kindle ebooks early.  The answer is YES!  Here’s how to do it:

  1. Go to “Manage Your Kindle” on the Amazon site to access a list of your titles.  Public library titles are indicated by the words “public library” in orange.  (You will need to be logged in to see your library.) 
  2. Using the “Actions” drop-down button on the far right select “Return the book.”  (There is also a “Delete from Library” option, but that will just remove it from the list and it will remain checked out to you until the end of the loan period.) 
  3. Confirm the deletion when prompted. 
  4. The title will still be listed in your Amazon account, but if you select the “Actions” button again you will see that returning the book is no longer an option.  At this point you can delete the book from your list, if you wish. 

Screen shot instructions of this process are coming soon.

You can also return ePUB eBooks early from the OverDrive Media Console App. Make sure you are in the bookshelf portion of the app.  Tap “edit” at the top left of the screen.  This will bring up a red circle next to each book on your bookshelf.    Tap the red circle next to whichever book you wish to to delete.  You will be prompted to choose to delete and return the book or delete without returning.  Select the former and your book will be returned and removed from the app.

Sarah

UPDATE:  Amy Ergler provided directions for early returns using an Android device.  Thanks, Amy!

I’d like to point out that Sarah’s instructions for returning EBUP books early from the OverDrive Media Console App were written for iPad/iPod users. The process is different for Android users:

1. Open the App. You should be automatically taken to the bookshelf.
2. Long click (basically, press and hold) the book that you want to return until a menu pops up.
3. From the menu, choose “Delete,” the last option on the list. This will bring up a second menu.
4. From the second menu, you may choose “Return then Delete,” “Delete Only,” or “Cancel.”
5. Select “Return then Delete.” (Choosing “Delete” will remove the book from your device, but it will still be checked out to you.)

 

Continue ReadingEarly Return of Kindle eBooks