Your Library Connection
 

Check out Audio Books from the Library 24/7!

Let’s be NEIBORS!  Independence Public Library patrons now have anytime, anywhere access to a dynamic collection of digital audio books through the new library service NEIBORS, the North Eastern Iowa Bridge to Online Resource Sharing.  You can easily get to this site by going to the library’s website, www.indylibrary.org, and clicking on the graphic which says NEIBORS Audio Book Downloads Click Here.  NEIBORS is coordinated by East Central, North Central and Northeastern Library Service Areas and is a collaboration of 94 member libraries.

With a valid library card, members of participating libraries can log onto the digital library website, install the free software, check out and download popular and classic audio books to their PC, and then transfer to a portable MP3 player or even burn some titles to CD and listen in the car or at home.

Among the growing collection are romance, mystery, and classic literature audio books. Non-fiction titles include biography, humor, business and careers, and more! The 24/7, free access includes audio books from best selling authors like Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks, and James Patterson, in addition to titles from the classic writers Leo Tolstoy and Edgar Allan Poe.

This is an exciting opportunity enabling our library to expand our range of library services to the community. We are now able to offer popular books to customers from the comfort of their home or office.  We are thrilled that the first year of costs associated with being part of the NEIBORS project is being paid for with a grant received from the  Buchanan County Community Foundation.   

Patrons can check out up to two titles at a time, and at the end of the 7 or 14 day lending period, the audio books will expire from their PC and be automatically returned into the NEIBORS digital collection. With the digital titles, there are no late fees or damage costs. The service is free, easy-to-use, and best of all, available anytime from anywhere in the world.

Right now NEIBORS is not compatible with Macintosh or iPod.  This is because the Microsoft digital rights management doesn’t work with iPods.  In other words, Overdrive, the downloadable audio book service, and Apple have not come to an agreement with the method and software used for copyright protection.  We hope that they will be able to do so in the future.

Give the downloadable audio books a whirl.  Go to the library’s website, www.indylibrary.org, click on the NEIBORS icon on the right side of the screen, and then click on the Quick Start Guide or the Guided Tour if it is your first time on the NEIBORS site.  You need a library card in order to download audio books, so come to the library to get one if you don’t have one! 

This is an exciting step forward for the Independence Public Library!  I hope that you will be able to take advantage of the new opportunities!

Library Tidbits:

Smoothie Mix:
The library is selling smoothie mix.  It is left over from RAGBRAI and we are selling at deeply discounted prices.  We have strawberry and mango, and will sell one carton (makes one gallon of smoothies) for $10 or a case (6 cartons) for $45.  It is extremely easy to make with ice and a blender, and is a wonderful treat.  Call 334-2470, e-mail lblaker@indytel.com, or stop in at the library if you are interested.

Building Update:
Thank you for all the support following my last article, “Library Construction Costs Higher than Anticipated.”  Construction is on schedule, and we hope to be open in early fall of ’08.  The basement of the new library is almost complete.  The floor and walls are done in the basement.  Soon, work will start on the wiring for all utilities in the facility.  In a few months we anticipate the walls of the main floor being erected.

Online Book Club:
We now offer an Online Book Club that delivers books electronically! Each day, Monday through Friday, the library emails subscribers a portion of a book that takes about five minutes to read. They're able to read two or three chapters from a book during the week. If they like a book, they can check it out from our library, either through our collection or through Interlibrary Loan.  Each week the library features new books.  You can sign up for the service at the library’s web site: www.indylibrary.org by clicking on the logo that says Online Book Clubs - Click & Read.

Story Times:
Story times for the school year begin again on September 10^th and are scheduled for Monday evenings at 7:00 pm and Wednesday mornings at 9:30 am.

Computer Classes:
We are offering computer classes for beginners in September and will offer them again this fall.  Watch the Bulletin-Journal, give us a call 334-2470, or check on our website www.indylibrary.org to see when they are offered.  If you are interested, you do have to register for the class ahead of time because we have a limit of six students for each class.

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