More ebook options for library patrons

Enki ebooks

The latest offering on the Kansas State Library’s Digital Book eLending page is Enki, an ebook lending platform created by libraries in California and Colorado to manage ebooks purchased by participating libraries directly from authors and small publishers. Using Enki, you can checkout up to five books at a time for two weeks with the option of early return. It follows the traditional library model -- one person at a time can check out a book, and you can place a hold on books that are currently checked out.

To checkout from Enki, go to http://ksl.enkilibrary.org and log in with your Kansas Library Card. Kansas Library Cards are not the same as regular local library cards. They are free to any Kansas resident and can be obtained from any Kansas library.

Once logged in, search the website using the browser on your device. After you find something you want, click Checkout, then choose Download. It will ask you to open the book with whatever reader you have installed on your device -- Bluefire Reader or the Freading app both work well. For more detailed instructions and for instructions for different kinds of devices, go to the Enki ebooks page on the Kansas State Library website http://www.kslib.info/digitalbooks/enki.html.

Unite for Literacy - Free ebooks for kids

Douglas County Libraries, the Colorado Library Consortium, and Unite for Literacy have teamed up to provide access to free ebooks for kids. Unite for Literacy’s ebook library is designed to be read from a web browser, either on desktop computer or mobile device. They wish to take advantage of the spreading usage and availability of mobile internet access to get books into the hands of emergent readers.

These online early literacy picture books are each available with optional narration in different languages. Currently they offer over a hundred books narrated in up to 15 different languages, but their goal is to support all the languages that are spoken in U.S. homes.

These ebooks can be accessed through our library catalog (http://catalog.lmlibrary.org) by searching for “Unite for Literacy” or directly from the website at http://uniteforliteracy.com.

Tumblebooks

Another source of online read-aloud picture books is Tumblebooks, made available to all Kansas residents free of charge by the State Library of Kansas and by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The Tumblebooks website includes story books, chapter books, videos, puzzles and games, and a language learning section. As stated on their website “TumbleBookLibrary is an online collection of animated, talking picture books which teach young children the joys of reading in a format they'll love.”

Tumblebooks can be accessed by any Kansas resident through the library’s website, http://lmlibrary.org, the Kansas State Library’s website, http://www.kslib.info/digitalbooks.html, or by using your Kansas Library Card.

Beginning Computer Classes

The library offers beginning computers classes every Tuesday at 11:00 a.m., downstairs in the computer lab. The classes are for both English and Spanish speakers and walk-ins are welcome. It is a basic introduction to keyboard and mouse and eventually builds up to creating email accounts and other helpful basic tutorials.

Mango Languages

Mango Connect is part of the new look of the Mango website. Kansas residents can use the website to start learning their choice of over 50 different languages free of charge. Creating a username and password is optional, but doing so will allow you to pick up where you left off between learning sessions.

The website now offers two apps -- Mango Conversations and Mango Premiere.

Mango Conversations uses real-life situations and conversations to teach a new language. Users listen to and repeat conversations, not just learning the individual words and phrases, but also learning how they're used in practical situations and conversations.

Mango Premiere uses movies to more effectively teach a new language. Users watch these feature films with or without subtitles in both their own language and the language to be learned. Mango Premiere gives the viewer the ability to break down scenes and subtitles, combining both spoken and written learning. It also brings in cultural notes and quizzes for an in-depth look at the language in the film. Premiere currently offers feature films in 7 languages.

Database Spotlight

Today we’ll go over two of the many online resources (http://www.kslib.info/librarians/eor.html) made available to all Kansas residents free of charge by the State Library of Kansas and by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Mango Languages

Have you ever wanted to learn another language but haven’t had the opportunity, time, or money to do so? Now you access Mango Languages, using either your browser or the app available for your phone or other device. Mango is an online language learning program that offers sixty-one foreign language courses for English speakers and courses to learn English from seventeen different languages. On the lighter side, there is even a course in learning to speak like a pirate.

Most of the courses offer a choice of either basic lessons to teach simple, practical skills for common, polite conversation situations in only a few short hours, or complete lessons, which teach in-depth and comprehensive language and grammar skills. You can create a username and password to be able to keep track of your progress or just click on start learning to browse through the available courses.

LearningExpress

LearningExpress offers practice tests, courses, and eBooks which are arranged by categories or Learning Centers geared toward certain age groups or interests:

• Elementary School
• Middle School
• High School
• College Preparation
• College Students
• Popular Software Tutorials
• GED Preparation
• Workplace Skills
• Occupation Practice Tests
• Skill Building for Adults
• U.S. Citizenship
• Recursos para Hispanohablantes
• Computer & Internet Basics

Using the Learning Centers, a person can find help with Math, Reading Comprehension, Social Studies, Writing, Logic and Reasoning, Science, Statistics, Trigonometry, Vocabulary and Spelling, Writing and Grammar, as well as preparation for many standardized tests. Are you studying to get your CDL or studying to take the Electrician's License Test? There’s help for that too in the Occupation Practice Tests learning center.

The Job & Career Accelerator is also available through LearningExpress. It offers help with searching for a job, writing a resume, writing a cover letter, learning basic computer skills, learning a computer program, filling out a job application, and exploring careers.

Both of these databases can be accessed by visiting the library’s website, lmlibrary.org, or by going to http://www.kslib.info/librarians/eor.html. If these links don’t work for any reason, you can also access the databases using your Kansas Library Card, which is free to any Kansas resident and can be obtained from any library in Kansas.

3M Cloud eBook news and updates

• The 3M Cloud app is now available for Kindle Fire through SlideME.org

If you have a Kindle Fire and wish to check out library eBooks from 3M Cloud, it has now gotten much simpler. Before the app was only available through Google play (which Kindle Fires can’t use). Now it is available through SlideME.org as well.

To install the app, turn on the ability to "Download apps from external/unknown sources" under "Settings", go to SlideMe.org in your web browser on your Kindle Fire, search for "3M Cloud Library" and install the app.

• The 3M Cloud app now works with VoiceOver.

The Apple mobile app now is fully functional with VoiceOver, which means that visually impaired patrons have access to the 3M Cloud eBooks library on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. For more information see visit the http://www.kslib.info/digitalbooks/3m/3mnews.html

• Digital Book Request Form If there is an audiobook or eBook that you wish was in our digital library collection, you can fill out a Digital Book Request Form on the Kansas EZ Library website (http://www.kslib.info/digitalbooks.html). You’ll be notified if the book is available for purchase, but please realize that some publishers are unwilling to allow their digital books to be purchased by libraries.

Audiobooks and eBooks for Dad

Celebrate Father’s day by getting Dad set up to check out free audiobooks and eBooks from the library.

Kansas EZ Library (http://www.kslib.info/digitalbooks.html) is a service of the Kansas State Library and other contributing Kansas Libraries. Any resident of Kansas can use the service to checkout audiobooks and eBooks online.

Registration requires a Kansas Library Card (http://www.kslc.org). If you don’t already have a Kansas Library Card, (not the same as a regular local library card) you can get one at any Kansas public or school library.

Because June is national audiobook month, now is the perfect time to talk about the audiobook side of Kansas EZ Library. With tablets, dedicated eReaders, and all things eBook on the rise, but you might be surprised to know that the audiobook side of Kansas EZ Library is actually still more popular.

The well-established audiobooks platform called One Click Digital has more Kansas users, more daily circulations (more than 10,000 checkouts in May alone), and more new books available for checkout than the eBook platforms.

Newly added audiobooks that might appeal to Dad include:

"Inferno" by Dan Brown - From the Book Description -  In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history's most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces--Dante's "Inferno"--as he battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle.

"A serpent's tooth" by Craig Johnson  - From the Book Description - When a lost Mormon child wanders into Absaroka County, the intrepid Wyoming sheriff teams up with feisty deputy Victoria Moretti and longtime friend Henry Standing Bear on a high plains scavenger hunt that leads them to a violent interstate polygamy group.

"Shattered trident" by Larry Bond - From the Book Description - While trailing a Chinese nuclear attack sub, Jerry Mitchell, the captain of USS North Dakota, is shocked to see the Chinese boat torpedo a Vietnamese merchant ship.

This blatant act of aggression is the opening gambit in a war that has blindsided the U.S. and quickly embroiled all nations in the western Pacific. These nations, bound together in the newly formed Littoral Alliance, have begun a covert submarine campaign aimed at crippling China's economy before China can set in motion its own plot to dominate the region...

"A delicate truth" by John Le Carré - From the Book Description -  A counter-terrorist operation, codenamed Wildlife, is being mounted on the British crown colony of Gibraltar. Its purpose: to capture and abduct a high-value jihadist arms buyer. Its authors: an ambitious Foreign Office Minister, a private defense contractor who is also his bosom friend, and a shady American CIA operative of the evangelical far-right. So delicate is the operation that even the Minister’s personal private secretary, Toby Bell, is not cleared for it...

"Zero Hour" by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown - From the Book Description - It is called zero point energy, and it really exists--a state of energy contained in all matter everywhere, and thus all but unlimited. Nobody has ever found a way to tap into it, however--until one scientist discovers a way. Or at least he thinks he has. The problem is, his machines also cause great earthquakes, even fissures in tectonic plates. One machine is buried deep underground; the other is submerged in a vast ocean trench. If Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala and the rest of the NUMA team aren't able to find and destroy them, and soon, the world will be on the threshold of a new era of earth tremors and unchecked volcanism.

Of course, you don't have to go online to check out audiobooks. You can also come into the library and check out some of the following new books on CD:

• The tooth tattoo by Peter Lovesey
• Screwed by Eoin Colfer.
• The golden egg by Donna Leon
• The redeemer by Jo Nesbo and Don Bartlett
• A chain of thunder: a novel of the siege of Vicksburg by Jeff Shaara
• 12th of Never by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Whether you prefer MP3 or CD, why not listen to a good book this month.

Freading is Fundamental

In my last column, I told you that if you’re interested in downloading and checking out eBooks and audiobooks, you can do that on the Library Memorial Library website.

Downloadable audiobooks and e-books are available for checkout through the Kansas EZ Library; this includes OneClickdigital for audiobooks and 3M Cloud for eBooks.

The Kansas EZ Library has added another service for eBooks --- Freading.

Freading works a little differently way than the other library eBook services. It is more of a rental/subscription model, but it’s free. You don’t have to buy anything. It works on a token system.

Each patron using the service is allotted five tokens per week. The State Library pays Freading based on how many tokens are used (we don't pay for the tokens you do not use.) Freading then pays the publishers based on how many times each of their books were borrowed by patrons of all libraries using Freading.

Now here’s the real neat thing -- all books on Freading are always available. There are no holds. If there’s a book that you want to read, provided that you have enough tokens, you can download it immediately.

When logged in, the number of tokens you have used is shown in the upper right side on the Freading website. Unused tokens roll over for four weeks (based on when you first logged in to Freading), then your account is reset to zero, and a new five tokens are issued.

Books "cost" different numbers of tokens (four, two, or one), usually based on the age of the book.   This is always shown on the cover of the book in the upper left corner. Each book is on loan for 14 days.

You may "spend" your tokens however you wish.  You could get as many as five books with your five tokens each week if you wish to read books that are no longer new.  And if you run out of time while reading a book, most renewals are free or cost one token.

Probably, the biggest drawback with this site is that the selection will be limited. While you may not find many of the major publishers and authors on this site, there should be something from smaller publishers and lesser authors that may pique your interest. The bottom line is that Freading gives you another alternative to eBooks.

For more information on Freading and how to get started, go to http://www.kslib.info/digitalbooks/freading.html.

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Also in my last column, I told you that there was going to be a new addition to its eReader family. The Kindle Fire has arrived at the Liberal Memorial Library and is ready to be checked out.

If you’ve always wanted to see what a tablet can do, here’s your chance to find out first hand. Here’s a great opportunity to check out the wonders of what a tablet can do. You can surf the web, read a book, watch a video and do so much more.

All you have to do is come down to the circulation desk and ask for the Kindle Fire. Borrowers have to be at least 18 years old and sign a borrowing agreement adhering to the Library’s policies and terms for the device. Once you’ve done all that, you’ve got 14 days to check out one of the coolest devices around. (And don’t forget, late fees do apply!)

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We’ll be holding a Recipe Swap on Monday, January 28 at 6:30 p.m. Here’s a chance to exchange recipes and ideas with your fellow home cooks. Come down and bring your favorite recipes and a sample if you like.

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Other happenings for the rest of this month:

Preschool storytimes:

January 28 from 11:15 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Toddler storytimes:

January 24, & 31 from 11:15 a.m. to 11:35 a.m.

Infant storytimes: January 22, & 29 from 11:15 a.m. to 11:35 a.m.

Computer classes in English will meet on Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. and computer classes in Spanish will meet on Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m.

The Library will be closed on Monday, January 21 for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

There will be a Teen Pizza Party on Thursday, January 24 at 4 p.m.

For more information, come down to the Library or call us at 626-0180. You can also check out our webpage at www.lmlibrary.org or visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/lmlibrary.

Check out digital and audio books

If you’re interested in downloading and checking out e-books and audiobooks, you can do that on the Library Memorial Library website.

Downloadable audiobooks and e-books are available for checkout through the Kansas EZ Library; this includes OneClickdigital for audiobooks and 3M Cloud for ebooks.

The books available in this collection are provided through a consortium including the State Library of Kansas and your local public library.

Downloadable audiobooks are available from OneClickdigital. Users must register online for an account before they can access the audiobook site.

There are more tutorials on the Kansas EZ Library site and under Help in OneClickdigital.
Downloadable e-books are available from 3M Cloud Library. Users must have a Kansas Library Card, which they can get at their local library.

There are mobile access and computer access tutorials on the Kansas EZ Library site. Their 3M help page offers troubleshooting advice.

To get started, go to the Library webpage at www.lmlibrary.org, look at the quick links section on the left side and click on Downloadable audiobook and e-book help. Follow the instructions on the page and you’ll be on your way in no time.

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If you haven’t experienced the world of e-books, you can check out one of our two e-readers. We have a Nook and Kobo. Both are just e-readers and not tablets. While you can’t surf the net, there are hundreds of books downloaded onto the readers. You can pick and choose from a varied selection and this should give you a quick introduction into the world of e-books.

And there is a rumor that a tablet may be appearing at the Library for check out in the near future. Keep your eyes and ears open for further details!

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The Library will be closed from Monday, December 24 to Wednesday, December 26. We’ll re-open for regular hours on Thursday, December 27 at 9 a.m.

We’ll also be closed on New Year’s Day, January 1.

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Here are events for January:

Preschool storytimes:
January 7, 14, & 28 from 11:15 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Toddler storytimes:
January 10, 17, 24, & 31 from 11:15 a.m. to 11:35 a.m.
Infant storytimes: January 8, 15, 22, & 29 from 11:15 a.m. to 11:35 a.m.

Computer classes in English will meet on Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. and computer classes in Spanish will meet on Wednesdays at 10:15 a.m.
The library will be closed on Tuesday, January 1 for the New Year’s Day.

Make It and Take It Craft program on January 2 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Chess Club will meet on Thursdays, January 3 and 17 from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Library and Lunch will meet on Tuesday, January 8 at noon for "A Gift of Hope” by Danielle Steel.

The Gardening Club will meet on Tuesday, January 15 at 6:30 p.m.

Book Chat will meet on Thursday, January 17 at 4:30 p.m.

The library will be closed on Monday, January 21 for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

There will be a Teen Pizza Party on Thursday, January 24 at 4 p.m.

The Library will be doing a Recipe Swap on Monday, January 28 at 6:30 p.m.

Kansas EZ Library

For those of you who download audiobooks and ebooks through the State Library's Audiobook, Music and More program, a change is about to take place. The name of the program is changing to Kansas EZ Library, and there will be a new provider too. The company Overdrive, who currently provides the service platform for these services, will no longer be doing so after December 5, 2011. The State Library was unable to negotiate favorable terms with Overdrive which resulted in the need to find new vendors who could provide access to audiobooks and ebooks.

Some of the reasons why the State Library chose not to renew its contract with Overdrive were: substantial subscription charges to individual libraries in the consortium; a 700% increase from 2010 to 2013 for the platform fee; and a removal of the language that acknowledged consortium ownership of the material. Removal of this language also eliminated the opportunity to transfer the materials (materials purchased by Kansas libraries) to a different vendor. These changes, especially the substantial increase in the platform fee, were ones Kansas libraries could not afford to accept.

The State Library has found two new vendors who will provide downloadable services to Kansas libraries. But before the change can be made, the State Library is required to obtain permission from each of the 163 publishers of purchased audio and e-book content so that the content can be moved to the new providers. As of today, the State Library has received 88 publisher permission forms and has permission to move the content of 3804 audio and 875
ebooks to the new providers.

The econtent vendors are not new companies, but providing downloadable products is a new venture for them. One Click Digital (Recorded Books) will provide audiobooks, and 3M Cloud Library will be used for ebooks. At this time the target dates for the changes are sometime in November for the audiobooks and sometime in January 2012 for the ebooks. Unfortunately, this schedule will result in a gap between the time the contract with Overdrive ends on December 5, and the date that all econtent will be available to Kansas residents. In order minimize this disruption in service, the State Library will be providing a list of free downloadable audiobook and ebook services at www.kslib.info/digitalbooks. This link will also be available from our website at www.lmlibrary.org. Here are a few examples of sites that provide access to free ebooks and audiobooks:
For ebooks:

• Project Gutenberg--Download books in the public domain (out of copyright). Browse by popularity, genre, and subject. Can transfer to or directly use on a portable device.
• ManyBooks--Searches free ebooks from around the web. Converts the free books to more formats than they would previously have been available.
• Inkmesh--Book search that includes a browse by subject alongside promotional free ebooks from companies including Baen (science fiction).
• AddAll Books--Free ebook browsing includes eHarlequins.
• Google eBooks--Download free or pay for books here.

For Audiobooks:

• Spoken Alexandria--Great narration of books and other works in the public domain.
• LibriVox--Volunteer narration

If you are not currently using Kansas' econtent service Kansas EZ Library and would like to, just stop by the library and sign up for a Kansas Library Card. If you have any questions, please contact the library at 626-0180.

Drop by the library this fall

Autumn is slowly yet surly approaching.  The library has lots of activities planned over the next few months.
Our newest book display in the adult and young adult area is "Crafting". A scarf for cold weather, grab a knitting book! A quilt to adorn a sofa, grab a quilting book!  See if there’s a book on the display just calling your name.

The young adults are busy hanging out at the library every two weeks (this past week being a Teen Advisory Committee meet day) and the next being Teen Gaming on Thursday, September 29 at 4 p.m. The current project is for a prospective spring performance featuring a musical play.  The plans are in the works.  There may also be something in the works for the holiday season.  The group is slowly growing with an exuberant mix of young adults.

Lidia Hook-Gray will be at the library for a book signing on Tuesday, September 20 at 6 p.m. Her book entitled "Liberal and Seward County" was published on August 22.

The Library and Lunch book discussion will be held on Tuesday, October 11 at 12 p.m. The book "The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford will be discussed.  The novel is a debut for Ford whose plot revolves around Henry Lee, a Chinese-American in Seattle who's lost his wife and he finds out that the belongings of Japanese immigrants interned during the WWII have been found in a hotel basement.  The story shuffles between the present 1986 and the 1940s chronicling the losses of old age and the bewilderment of youth.

Book and Movie Series will meet on Thursday, October 20 at 6 p.m. for "Doubt" by John Patrick Shanley. Winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Shanley also directed the film version of the play starring Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis. Shanley is the writer behind the classic 1987 romantic comedy titled "Moonstruck".

What’s new in the library? As of this upcoming Wednesday, the Kobo eReader will be available for check-out to library patrons.  E-readers are portable electronic devices designed for one to read digital books and periodicals. The Kobo uses an electronic ink screen so the screen tries to depict ordinary ink on paper.

There are over seventy different varieties of e-readers out on the market.  Stop by and see if a Kobo might be one for you.  E-readers are perfect for someone who travels.  There is less space taken up by books.
There are many classics downloaded on the library device for perusal including The "Velveteen Rabbit" by Margery Williams which I read for the first time on the Kobo.  Pages may be more colorful in paper format or in another version of device.  See for yourself.

As a still quite devoted physical book aficionado whether in everyday life or whilst traveling (paperbacks for discovering new authors like Ian McEwan prior to his "Atonement" fame on a long flight years ago) one might see the advantage of eventually reading Tolstoy's War and Peace in an e-reader format.

As always, for the latest library programming take a peek at the library website or grab a newsletter from the circulation desk. Stay tuned and connected through our social media pages. If you have any questions or suggestions about books or programs don't hesitate to ask. Hope to see you at the library this fall