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Digital bookmobile demystifies eBooks
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Pablo Chois of Cleveland helps Sally Rahde of Canfield with a portable e-book downloading and reading device Tuesday in the OverDrive Bookmobile’s video lounge. The bookmobile, which tours the United States and Canada, made a six-hour stop at the Boardman library.
BOARDMAN
A six-hour visit by a high-tech 18-wheel tractor-trailer helped library patrons unlock the mysteries of downloadable e-books and audiobooks offered by the local public-library system.
The OverDrive Digital Bookmobile, on its national tour, made a stop Tuesday at the Boardman branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.
The Cleveland-based OverDrive provides e-books and audiobooks available anywhere at any time and free of charge to library cardholders through the library’s website, libraryvisit.org.
“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to expand your ability to be able to get books,” said Linda Ruggles of Boardman, retired principal of Washington Intermediate School in Niles.
“Be patient. Follow it through. Take your time with it, and don’t expect to learn everything about the device at once,” she advised those who are new to e-books and e-book readers.
“Download a book. Start reading it, and go from there,” she advised.
“I wanted to see if there were some new tricks or some new tips that I could learn here today,” Ruggles said after emerging from the bookmobile. “I never downloaded audio books, and I may try that next,” she added.
Ruggles said she likes e-books because the format gives her the ability to change type size and style to suit her preferences and the fact that the type appears on a lighted screen.
Her favorite e-book reader is the Kindle Paperwhite because it offers glare-free reading in sunlight.
When the lending period ends, titles automatically expire and return to the library’s digital collection, never incurring damage charges or late fees.
In a visit coinciding with the start of the new school year, the bookmobile enabled patrons to learn how to download e-books from the library through high-definition instructional videos and interactive demonstrations.
Through a gadget gallery, patrons were able to experience and compare portable devices compatible with the library’s e-book service.
The gallery included Kindle, the iPad, the Android tablet, NOOK, Sony Reader, BlackBerry and Windows Phone.
“We always wanted the digital bookmobile to come here, so, when they offered us this opportunity, we just snapped it up,” said Debby McCullough, the library system’s manager of public-service operations.
She said she chose Boardman library for the visit because of its high visibility and its parking lot’s size and accessibility for a tractor-trailer truck.
The bookmobile, which travels around the United States and Canada, was in Canton on Monday and will be in Akron today.
“We just like to visit our library partners and school partners around the country, and then we also like to talk to our end-users and help them get started, especially if they’re not aware that this is available for them,” said Katie Yap, OverDrive’s marketing and communications representative.