Librarians are always the best champions of the written word, whether it’s found on a traditional printed page or on your handy e-book reader, and the Traverse Area District Library has just made the latter a lot easier, by opening up its entire
e-book collection to cardholders with Kindles.
Not all e-books are the same, and not all are compatible with all readers, but the Kindle is such a popular e-reader that the library had high demand from cardholders to be able to download to their Kindles.
Popular and classic e-books are among the offerings that now can be downloaded to Kindles or devices running the Kindle app, including iPhones, iPads and Androids.
E-books themselves aren’t new to the library, which has been offering downloadable e-books for computers, smartphones, mp3 players and other e-book readers since the spring. The success of the program made the addition of Kindle e-books a natural progression, since more than 4,000 e-books have been downloaded from the library since April, according to Metta Lansdale, Jr., Traverse Area District Library director.
"We have heard from a host of residents waiting for this service," she says. "The additional access allows us to open up public library e-book collections to Kindle customers for the first time, and to continue access for Nook, iPad and other e-readers."
Library cardholders need an online library ID, and then can download up to ten e-books at a time, in the adobe ePub format. It does require setup online from a computer, and your Kindle has to be connected through wi-fi or a USB connection to get the books, which don’t go through Amazon’s e-book delivery program.
And for those who aren’t quite sure what to do with their new Kindle or other e-reader, reference librarian Betsy Myers is offering a free workshop at 10 a.m. on Oct. 24 at the main library branch, in the McGuire Community Room. Registration is required for the session, which includes how-tos on using e-readers, downloading e-books, and the library’s e-book programs. What did we tell you about librarians?
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Metta Lansdale, Jr.
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