Overdrive is a new way to download audiobooks and e-books. Many people at the library are now using it and are very happy that there is something new and innovative out there. A common response to Overdrive is "I had no idea the library was okay with digital books". I think that many patrons think librarians only feel that books should be in print and librarians should pretty much just live in caves.
I also discovered that Alachua County has a large quantity of e-books, audiobooks, music, and even DVDs on their Overdrive. All Florida residents are able to withhold an Alachua County e-card to check out all digital materials. Give it a try if you haven't already. You may find that you will even become addicted!
So, I decided to observe and note how many patrons within the course of a day were aware that our library had a digital library. I decided to be fair and stay within the children's area and ask parents rather than kids. Within the course of an entire day and asking about ten parents I found that none of them knew. A handful of parents knew about our Playaways which are new Mp3 players that allow patrons to listen to audio books through a handheld Mp3 player. The fact that they knew this was a given since we have had the Playaways for almost a year.
Unfortunately, none of the parents I asked knew about our digital library even with the advertising through fliers, bookmarks, and website. On the other hand, people were very surprised and excited that the library was so innovative. One patron even mentioned that she was reluctant to tell me that she had a digital reader because she thought the library would be offended!
I decided to use my activity in this case for my 23 things + 1 New thing:
The patron and I completed the following steps in a matter of 10 minutes (as long as you are a Florida resident you can do this for free):
1. Go To: Alachua County Library System
2. Apply for an e-card
3. You will receive your e-card number in your personal email account.
4. Once you have retrieved your e-card number - Go To: Overdrive
5. You will need to download Overdrive to your computer.
6. Proceed to browse Overdrive and checkout digital materials for FREE!
When I cannot find books on my library's Overdrive, I cross check materials with Alachua County's Library and I also refer patrons to it as well. The patron in this case was very happy and excited about the idea of free and new materials.
So, little by little we will inform and instruct our patrons of how innovative and cool the library is and that as librarians we really do not live in caves but rather try to live on the edge of new technology.
No comments:
Post a Comment