Hoopla, A Lending Service Worthy Of Its Name

This month we're making a big hoopla about offering Bernardsville Library members free access to an exciting digital lending service called hoopla. Hoopla enables you to instantly borrow digital media which you can stream or download to a computer, tablet, or smartphone using the hoopla app. This product is also compatible with Chromecast and viewable on Apple TV.

One of the most exciting features of hoopla is that it allows you to borrow music, movies, audiobooks, ebooks, comics, and TV episodes without a waiting period. There are no holds lists with long waiting times. YOU are always first in line! Listen to more than 270,000 albums, watch thousands of TV episodes and movies, and take your pick from over 100,000 audiobooks, comics, and ebooks. And it's so convenient for you because your items will be automatically returned at the end of your loan period.

To begin your new adventure with hoopla, simply visit our website http://bernardsvillelibrary.org, click on the hoopla link, and sign up using your library card number. While you're on our website, please take advantage of our many other resources that will add value to your life. Among them are the Cloud Library for ebooks and audiobooks, Rosetta Stone for language learning, digital magazine lending through Zinio and Flipster, and our many research and collection resources.

E-Readers, Loaded and Ready to Loan

According to Pew Internet, a project of the Pew Research Center, people are eager to try e-book readers and would like to borrow these e-readers from local libraries.  One of Pew Internet's charts (shown) tabulates the level of e-reader interest sorted by age, ranging from 60% positive interest for teenagers to 25% for seniors.  The chart further demonstrates that there is an interest in learning how to use e-readers and how to download books onto them.  It appears that these people may not be aware that their local libraries offer such devices and services.

In all of these cases, Bernardsville Public Library has been at the forefront in e-book technology made available to our library users.  We offer many types of loanable e-readers pre-loaded with numerous book titles, we hold classes to help people learn about these e-tablets, and we provide take-away information on how to download books from our library website. Our users continue to enjoy the e-book experience at Bernardsville Public Library, and we, in turn, have increased our inventory of loanable material to meet their growing demand.

Starting out with a Sony e-reader a number of years ago, we have expanded our e-reader inventory to include the Nook, Kindle, Kindle Fire and iPad.  All these devices are in demand thanks in part to the fact that we have customized them with many popular book titles.  A search of our library catalog for Nook or Kindle will disclose the long list of book titles contained on each device.  There is even a Kindle Fire just for children and teens with appropriate books for that age group.  Further, our website provides many online instruction sheets which will guide the new user easily through the steps for operating e-readers and downloading e-books.  Clearly, public interest in e-readers is there, as Pew Internet's research demonstrates, and libraries like Bernardsville Public Library have responded.

e-Books to iPad

Learn how to download books and music to iPad at Bernardsville Library's program on January 31st at 7 p.m.  The procedure and apps you need will be demonstrated by Cranbury Public Library's Doug Baldwin, librarian and IT expert.  Feel free to bring your iPad with you.

If you don't own an iPad, why not try out Bernardsville Public Library's iPad which may be borrowed with a Bernardsville Library card?  For more information or to sign up for this program, call 908-766-0118 or go online @ http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DX8SSJ6.