The book world is changing. Electronic books, which were only a small segment of the market a few years ago, are now overtaking print. At Amazon.com, sales of ebooks outpace print, whether hard or softcover. Lee Child's latest book, The Affair, is a bestseller in print; but again, more ebooks are being sold of this title. If you own an ereader, whether an iPad or a Kindle, getting reading material can be expensive. However, we have our own technology available, through the SAILS system: Overdrive.
Using Overdrive is easy, but it does involve a few steps. To get started, go to www.sailsinc.org; either log in with your card number and PIN, or as a guest. On the next page, click on "downloads." This will bring you to the Overdrive page, which displays available books, and their status in the system. You'll need to log in, with your card and PIN.
Before you can check any books out, you need to download the appropriate software. The Overdrive media console is available for both Macs and PC's, the iPad, and also for smart phones. Just download the software for your device, and you're in business. For Kindle, the process is a little different. I'll get to that in a minute.
Once you have your software, it's time to have fun. Searching for books on Overdrive is pretty straightforward. Browse through the displays of recent books, or recently returned ones; or click on a category, such as mystery, to see what's available. Unfortunately there's usually only one copy of each book, and with the rise in demand now that Overdrive books can be downloaded to the Kindle, many titles will already be out. However, you can place a book on hold, just as with print, or put it on your wish list. You're allowed 6 holds at a time.
When you've found a book, put it in your cart, and then proceed to checkout. For everything except the Kindle, checking out a book makes it ready for downloading to your device. Once that's done, you're ready to read. Just as with your holds, you're allowed only 6 checkouts. You can keep most titles for 14 days, though some are limited to 7. When the loan period is up, the titles disappear from your device. It's that easy. No worrying about getting books back to the library on time, or paying overdue fines. The down side is that you can't keep your book past the due date, so getting it read in a timely manner is important.
The process for the Kindle is a little different. When requesting a book, click on the "Kindle book" button. The check out process is the same, but for downloading, you're redirected to Amazon. Log in there with your account, and then download your book.
Once you've finished reading (or listening - audiobooks are also available through Overdrive), simply delete and return the book, and you're ready to get more.
Overdrive also provides other titles which are always available, and which don't count toward your checkout count, as well as music. It's a great service for those of us who are becoming increasingly reliant on electronic devices. Best of all, whatever you read counts toward your 50 book count. So get into Overdrive, and enjoy!
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