Digital Resources: Great for Entertainment and Education
I’ve never read “The Husband’s Secret,” but I want to now. It’s been one of the most-checked-out audiobooks through the library’s new service, Hoopla, since we rolled it out two weeks ago.
Hoopla lets patrons with a valid library card borrow more than 300,000 movies, music albums and audiobooks straight from a browser, tablet or smartphone, anytime. When it’s due back it just disappears – no late fees. And multiple people can borrow it at the same time – no waiting. Some of the Library’s physical copies have two to 40 “holds,” – proof that Hoopla has already expanded the Library’s ability to provide access to popular items.
Hoopla already has 800 local users who have checked out more than 1,300 items, and the top checkouts so far provide a picture of what’s hot among our e-borrowers.
- Top audiobook: “The Husband’s Secret” by Liane Moriarty, followed by “Divergent” by Veronica Roth and “Catching Fire” by Suzanne Collins
- Top music: “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke, followed by “Now That’s What I Call Music, No. 47” and “Unorthodox Jukebox” by Bruno Mars
- Top movies: “Interview with the Hitman,” “Intersection” and “Where the Wild Things Are”
Hoopla is available by going to thelibrary.org and click on “Hoopla.”
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In that vein, it’s a good time to highlight an older resource that provides e-books for kids. The TumbleBook Library, (thelibrary.org/kids or thelibrary.org/digital) has several formats that provide fun and educational reading options for children.
- Story books –listen or read along at your own speed to these picture books
- Videos -- short videos on topics such as animals, space and science.
- Puzzles & games – put together puzzles, play the memory game and test your reading and spelling skills.
- Language learning – read books in French, Spanish and more
- Read-alongs – combine text and color with narration of early readers, chapter books and classics.
- Non-fiction – stories covering science, math, history, biography and more.
All materials are streamed online so no downloads are necessary. An Internet connection is required. Some of the stories use Adobe Flash, which isn’t supported by all mobile devices. The iPad & Mobile option lists all of the above content and should work on most tablets and smartphones.
TumbleBook Library is easy to use and great for kids, parents and teachers.
Find this article at http://thelibrary.org/blogs/article.cfm?aid=2539&lid=0