×

Off the Shelf: Accept the OverDrive Challenge

I am a hybrid reader. That doesn’t mean I’m reading in a Toyota Prius. That means I’m just as likely to read a book on my phone as I am to read a physical book.

I’m not alone. A Pew Research Center Book Reading 2016 study showed that 28 percent of Americans consumed books in both print and digital formats in the past year. Six percent of Americans read only in digital format.

That’s a significant number of digital readers. It also is a group that the library is committed to serving. Since 2010, our regional library cooperative, Traverse des Sioux, has contracted with OverDrive to provide electronic books and audiobooks to patrons who live within the nine-county area. With all of the member libraries financially supporting OverDrive, we are able to build the electronic collection more quickly and robustly.

Now we’re asking for your help. OverDrive will reward our region with up to $1,000 to purchase new e-materials if we collectively check out 26,500 digital items before the end of the year. That’s about 3,000 items per county. In Brown County, that’s 600 items per library. For reference, New Ulm averages about 600 electronic checkouts per month. We can win the OverDrive Challenge with your help!

For those of you already using OverDrive, did you know you now can check out up to five items at a time and place up to five items on hold at once? In addition, the checkout time has been extended to 21 days.

For those of you new to e-books, library staff is available to help you get started. We request that you make an appointment by calling the Reference staff at 507-359-8335 because it will take about 45 minutes to download the app and set up your account. Bring your phone, tablet, laptop, or e-reader with you. If you have a desktop computer and want to read on that, give us a call; we can talk you through the setup process, or we can schedule a home visit.

The OverDrive e-materials collection, located at tds.overdrive.com, is small but growing. There are about 6700 fiction titles, ranging from children’s to adult. There are about 1200 audiobooks for all ages. We have a high demand for audiobooks and have been committed to building that collection. Keep in mind that one audiobook currently on the New York Times bestseller list can cost upwards of $100. Popular books can exceed $75 per title. That is more than three times the cost of a print book or book on CD. Collection development of electronic materials is a slow but steady process.

The Pew Research Center reading study showed that 73 percent of Americans read a book in the past year. I can’t tell you how happy that makes this librarian! Sixty-five percent of Americans read a print book, and the library will continue to focus most of its financial and staff resources on the physical collection. The same study showed that the number of readers who consume books through digital formats is holding steady, and the library intends to serve them as well. Help us by accepting the OverDrive Challenge!

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper?
   

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today