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Digital Bookmobile makes stop at the Boardman library
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.The Digital Bookmobile made an appearance at the Boardman library as part of its tour of the United States and Canada.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.An instructional video played on a continuous loop that showed how the Digital Bookmobile works.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.After its appearance at the Boardman library, the 75-foot Digital Bookmobile headed to Akron, Stow and Orange, before moving north to Ontario, Canada.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.One of the features of the Digital Bookmobile was the computer workstations, which allow patrons to browse the library's selections of eBooks and audiobooks.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.The Digital Bookmobile's Video Lounge has a large selection of feature films and documentaries that patrons can select from.
By TIM CLEVELAND
As part of its efforts to raise awareness of the service it offers, the Digital Bookmobile made a stop at the Boardman library on Aug. 26. The stop was part of a nine-month tour of North America.
The 75-foot facility was parked in the library’s parking lot and was open to the public. A mini tour was provided, with an introductory video that explained the basics of the website, computer stations to browse the books on offer, view samples and search for something specific. There is a Gadget Gallery that showcases some of the most popular devices the Bookmobile is compatible with, plus a Video Lounge that has streaming videos of feature films and documentaries.
Anyone with a library card can access the site at www.DigitalBookmobile.com. The site has more than 15,000 eBooks and audiobooks that can be downloaded onto any device, such as tablets, mobile devices, E-readers, computers and laptops.
Patrons can download any available book from the site and keep it for up to three weeks. Once the three weeks has passed, the book automatically returns to the site, eliminating late fees.
If a wanted book is unavailable, the patron can put a hold on it and it’s automatically purchased by the library. If a patron wants a book the library doesn’t have, they can select an option called “recommend to the library” and the library automatically purchases it.
“I think we just wanted to reach out to our library partners across the country,” said Katie Yap, the digital media events specialist for OverDrive, the company that owns the Digital Bookmobile. “We found a lot of people weren’t aware that this is available, so this grabs their attention as soon as they get into the library parking lot. E always like to be able to speak with our end users and help them get started.”
The Digital Bookmobile has been making appearances at libraries and schools since 2008. The current tour started in February and continues until just before Thanksgiving.
After leaving Boardman, the tour continued in Akron, Stow and Orange before heading north to Ontario, Canada. Currently, more than 90 percent of public libraries in the U.S. are affiliated with the Bookmobile.
Linda Ruggles of Boardman was the first to pass through the Bookmobile.
“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to expand your ability to be able to get books and I like the devices,” she said. “I like to use the devices and I think it’s a wonderful opportunity that’s come to the people.”
Ruggles said that she learned about different tools the library offers by taking the tour of the Bookmobile.
“I never downloaded any audiobooks and I may try that next,” she said.
Ruggles said she likes downloading books to her Kindle Paperwhite and also uses an iPad mini.