How are you doing on your 50 book challenge? Finding enough to read? If not, we have some ideas for you. Each month we have new bookmarks available. We try to find themes appropriate to the season or holiday. Our first bookmark gave general suggestions to start you off. For January, though, we have two different lists of suggestions, one non-fiction, "Get in Shape!", and one fiction, "Make 'em Laugh." Each one lists books certain to make your life better, or at least funnier.
In February we'll be celebrating two holidays. The Black History Month bookmark will feature black history from a local perspective. And we can't ignore Valentine's Day. "Isn't it Romantic?" lists titles certain to warm your heart.
Stop by any New Bedford library to pick up your bookmarks. If you have any ideas for book lists you'd like to see, please contact me at mkruger@sailsinc.org, or call me at (508) 991-6214. I'd be happy to put something together.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Get Into Overdrive!
Books today come in other forms than on the printed page. Audio books have been around for a long time. More recently, electronic books, or ebooks, have become popular, with the introduction of such devices as Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad. Your library has many titles available to you, both as audiobooks and ebooks, through the Overdrive Media Console. This is software which alows you to download books directly to your device, inluding computers, Blackberries, and the iPhone. Best of all, it's free!
Start at the SAILS website at http://www.sailsinc.org/. From there click on the link for downloads, which will bring up the Overdrive page. Download the free software for your device, and you're ready to go. Browse books the way you do at a library, by title or genre, and add titles you want to your shopping cart. Checkouts work the same as for regular books, with a due date of two weeks. The title automatically expires at the end of the loan period. Once a books is checked out, it's uavailable to anyone else, so check back often to see what's on the shelf. Overdrive books can also be put on hold. Unfortunately, software for the Kindle or Barnes and Noble's Nook is not yet available.
I decided I'd read only for pleasure when I left college, after 4 years of interpreting and deconstructing dense texts. When I got my iPhone, though, I started downloading classics. I've since reread Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen, and am working through Great Expectations. It took a 21st century device to get me back to 19th century books. For traveling or going to places where I may have to wait, like a doctor's office, an ebook is much easier to handle than a regular book. It's easily portable and accessible. While I'll never give up books in print, I like having the option of reading in a different format. It's still reading.
If you haven't already tried Overdrive, why not start today? Any title you choose is eleigible for the 50 Book Challenge. And, like me, you just might find yourself hooked on new technology.
Start at the SAILS website at http://www.sailsinc.org/. From there click on the link for downloads, which will bring up the Overdrive page. Download the free software for your device, and you're ready to go. Browse books the way you do at a library, by title or genre, and add titles you want to your shopping cart. Checkouts work the same as for regular books, with a due date of two weeks. The title automatically expires at the end of the loan period. Once a books is checked out, it's uavailable to anyone else, so check back often to see what's on the shelf. Overdrive books can also be put on hold. Unfortunately, software for the Kindle or Barnes and Noble's Nook is not yet available.
I decided I'd read only for pleasure when I left college, after 4 years of interpreting and deconstructing dense texts. When I got my iPhone, though, I started downloading classics. I've since reread Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen, and am working through Great Expectations. It took a 21st century device to get me back to 19th century books. For traveling or going to places where I may have to wait, like a doctor's office, an ebook is much easier to handle than a regular book. It's easily portable and accessible. While I'll never give up books in print, I like having the option of reading in a different format. It's still reading.
If you haven't already tried Overdrive, why not start today? Any title you choose is eleigible for the 50 Book Challenge. And, like me, you just might find yourself hooked on new technology.
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