Experience Foreign Countries Without Leaving Essex

You’ve heard of them because of the Academy Awards: “Nominated for Best Foreign Film …” Or you read about small independent movies that were the hit of the Sundance or Toronto Film Festivals. But where can you get these movies? Every day at the  Essex Library.

Currently, there are more than 60 international films available for patrons to borrow. Our collection for the next three months includes movies such as:

• “The Year Of The Yao” – before there was Lin mania there was Yao Ming, a Chinese basketball player who traveled from Shanghai to Houston to become a sports superstar.
• “Immigration Tango” – a romantic comedy about Russian and Colombian immigrants who plan to swap partners with some American friends.
• “The Girl Who Played With Fire” – the Swedish version of the hit series, soon to be followed by an American version of the same.
• “Somers Town” – A Polish teenager and a runaway from Nottingham strike up a friendship over a hot summer in London.

Owned by the Connecticut Library Consortium, these films rotate between the participating lending libraries every 3 months. A Connecticut library card is all it takes to have a front-row seat.

Thanks to Librarian Marge Ruschau for help with this article.

Kindle EBooks Now Available Through Overdrive

Essex Library patrons–as part of the LION Library system’s Overdrive service, may now download eBooks to their Kindles. The announcement last spring that Kindle compatibility would take place sometime in 2011, followed by the hint this summer that this would happen in September, has proved to be true.

We have put together a few screenshots to walk you through the process. As always, if you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at the Library.

Overdrive has kept the download process simple: browse the catalog for a book*,

click “Add to Cart” for your selection

then click “Proceed to Checkout”.

After clicking “Confirm Check Out”,


select “Get for Kindle”.

This will redirect you to the Amazon website where you will see the “Get Library Book” button along with a window to select which Kindle device or app you will use for the download.

Next, after dutifully browsing Amazon’s commercial offerings, click “Download Now”.

You can download the book directly using a WI-FI signal depending on your device/app or connect your Kindle to your computer using a USB cable. If using the latter, when prompted, use the “Save As” option and click OK.

Open your Kindle file on your computer and drag and drop the book into the Documents folder. It will appear on your Kindle immediately.

*It should be noted that the Overdrive service is very popular and many, if not most, of the popular titles will be checked out at any given time. Simply put the book on hold by clicking Request/Hold and you’ll be notified by email when it’s available.

Overdrive Ebook Downloads To Kindles Have Begun…Out West

Library patrons have been awaiting the ability to borrow ebooks to read on their Kindles. It was hinted earlier this summer that downloads to the Kindle would go live in September. That day is here, if you are a patron of the Seattle Public Library or the King County Library System.  These libraries have been selected for the beta testing and it seems to be going well so far. There is still no information as to when Overdrive ebooks will be available for Kindle users nationwide.

What we can tell you is that the ebooks will be available for all Kindle models as well as Kindle apps for other devices and the Kindle Cloud Reader. You’ll have to download via WI-FI or connect your Kindle to a computer with a USB cable as the 3G wireless service is not supported.  When you check out your books you’ll be redirected to the Amazon website to login to your Amazon account (or create one if you don’t have one already) and then provide your library card number. As expected, Amazon will be including some offers for you to buy books during the process. Amazon’s “Whispersync” technology will also preserve your digital notes and bookmarks in case you buy the book from Amazon later or check it out a second time. The service is only available in the U.S.

Stay tuned for updates as to when Kindle compatibility will arrive for LION library patrons.

We Told You So…Amazon & OverDrive Partner Up For Ebooks

We’ve been predicting for a while now that Amazon would eventually concede to the pressure to allow its Kindle users to download books for free from the OverDrive eBook lending services offered by public libraries…and that day has come. Last week Amazon announced that they signed an agreement with OverDrive with the service to be launched for Kindle users at an unspecified date later this year. This is great news for Kindle owners who’ve, up to now, been turned away from Libraries offering the OverDrive service.

Currently, the OverDrive eBooks can be downloaded to many devices including the Barnes & Noble Nook, Borders’ Kobo, Sony eReaders, Apple devices and many, many others. To see the complete list, click here.  Service to Kindle owners will maintain the same lending rules–lending periods and number of downloads allowed as delineated by your local Library. The Essex Library allows patrons to check out up to 4 eBooks each with a lending period of 14 days.

Here’s a statement from Amazon with details regarding the new deal:

SEATTLE—April 20, 2011—(NASDAQ: AMZN)— Amazon today announced Kindle Library Lending, a new feature launching later this year that will allow Kindle customers to borrow Kindle books from over 11,000 libraries in the United States. Kindle Library Lending will be available for all generations of Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps.

“We’re excited that millions of Kindle customers will be able to borrow Kindle books from their local libraries,” said Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle. “Customers tell us they love Kindle for its Pearl e-ink display that is easy to read even in bright sunlight, up to a month of battery life, and Whispersync technology that synchronizes notes, highlights and last page read between their Kindle and free Kindle apps.”

Customers will be able to check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on any Kindle device or free Kindle app for Android, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone. If a Kindle book is checked out again or that book is purchased from Amazon, all of a customer’s annotations and bookmarks will be preserved.

“We’re doing a little something extra here,” Marine continued. “Normally, making margin notes in library books is a big no-no. But we’re extending our Whispersync technology so that you can highlight and add margin notes to Kindle books you check out from your local library. Your notes will not show up when the next patron checks out the book. But if you check out the book again, or subsequently buy it, your notes will be there just as you left them, perfectly Whispersynced.”

Harper Collins, Overdrive In Library E-Book Mess

Once upon a time. For all us librarians wondering how the fairy tale of e-books might play out, we’re seeing it become  a horror story instead. DRM (digital rights management is the term for technologies used to restrict/limit how digital materials are accessed) is the poisoned apple being used by publishers to kill a library’s ability to make e-books available to its  patrons. Prior to February 24th, Overdrive– a national vendor of digital materials to libraries, could offer customers e-book downloads on an unlimited basis. Harper Collins has just mandated a limit of 26 check-outs of its e-books through their vendors and distributors to libraries, including Overdrive. Even more troubling, Harper Collins wants to limit which patrons a library lends its digital materials to. But that’s another blog post.

Libraries are at an important crossroads regarding access to digital materials. We want to provide the services and materials our patrons want–in the formats they want. Those of us too small, read: too poor, to contemplate an Overdrive service on our own, purchase through a consortium. In the case of the Essex Library, we purchase Overdrive services through the LION Libraries consortium. With a limit of 26 check-outs on any given e-book—and you can anticipate other publishers will be climbing onto Harper Collins’ restrictive bandwagon, LION’s 365,000 patrons will find their ability to access Overdrive’s e-books so severely diminished as to be useless. Already there are publishers, including two of the largest, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster– who don’t allow any library circulation of their e-books.

What can libraries do to keep e-book patrons happy?

Author Cory Doctorow advocates a library boycott of all DRM-protected materials. Librarians across the country are disgusted, discouraged and angry. You can follow their comments on Twitter at the #hcod hashtag. None of this can be resolved until publishers come up with a viable business model for digital books. It won’t serve them well to distance their authors from potential readers, digital or print. The publishing industry as a whole is in trouble and alienating libraries who serve millions of readers by spending billions of dollars on materials just doesn’t seem productive. A call to arms, in the guise of library consortia joining together, collaborating and using their combined buying power to persuade publishers to loosen, or just plain lose, the restrictions on digital materials has been issued by librarian Matthew D. Hamilton.

We need a happy ending here for everyone…authors, publishers, vendors and readers.  Anybody got any great ideas?

Essex Library To Host Debate, Feb, 11 at 7 p.m.

The Essex Library is proud to host a public debate at Essex Town Hall between Phillip Miller and Janet Peckinpaugh, Democratic and Republican candidates respectively for the special election this month for the 36th House District seat.  Questions for the candidates may be submitted by the public via the Essex Library, through email, on our Facebook page, in writing, or in person, at the Library, before the event. All questions must include name and phone number. Questions of a personal nature will not be considered, nor will those that are “attack” or “gotcha” in nature. From the questions submitted, five will be chosen for the debate by moderator Richard Conroy, Essex Library Director. Come hear the candidate’s positions. Please call the Library (860) 767-1560 to register for this program, or for more information.

Dear Santa, Kindle vs Overdrive

Dear Santa, I’ve been hearing about how popular ebooks are and I was thinking I should get an eReader and try them out. My Library offers the Overdrive downloadable ebook and audiobook service so I can get all my ebooks for free. I like the Kindle from Amazon. Could you put one under my tree this year?

Dear Virginia, What a terrific idea for a gift this year! I’ll be delivering a lot of eReaders to those on my Good list. I should advise you though that the Kindle doesn’t work with the Overdrive service. The Nook, Kobo, Sony eReaders, Apple’s iPad and iPhones and Android devices all are compatible with Overdrive. If you happen to get one of the compatible devices, HoHoHo, check out the Overdrive Q&A for step-by-step instructions and you’ll be reading your books in a flash!

National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week

Passing by a vote of 369-0 last July, the designation of National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week beginning September 13th, 2010 was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives with Resolution 1472.

“Resolved, That the House of Representatives

(1) supports the designation of National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, including raising public awareness about the importance of adult education and family literacy;

(2) encourages people across the United States to support programs to assist those in need of adult education and family literacy programs; and

(3) requests that the President issue a proclamation recognizing the importance of adult education and family literacy programs, calling upon the Federal Government, States, localities, schools, libraries, nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, consumer advocates, institutions of higher education, labor unions, and businesses to support increased access to adult education and family literacy programs to ensure a literate society.”

In the Whereas’ text of the Resolution, no fewer than 18 reasons are given for why “the literacy of its citizens is essential for the economic well-being of the United States, our society, and the individuals who can benefit from full participation therein”.

The vote was unanimous; adult education and family literacy are essential says Congress. One step parents can take in promoting early reading skills for their children is to participate in Library story times. Registration for autumn story times at the Essex Library will take place on Monday, September 27th at 10 a.m. For more information, click here.

If your kids are too old for story hours, they’re never too old for a trip to the Library to select  books or audiobooks that can open new worlds of learning and enjoyment for them. The Library is open 6 days-a -week. Make the time to come in and take advantage of all the free access to books and materials and programs we have…Congress says it’s essential.

Girl Scout Food Drive at The Library

Now and again we get to witness some of the generous and thoughtful activities of Essex community members. This week, through Friday, July 31st, Essex Girl Scout Troop 62041 is holding a food drive with a drop-off in the Essex Library. All donations will go directly to the Shoreline Soup Kitchen.

We live in a very special place and many of us would consider ourselves well off. Let’s reward the leadership initiative of the young ladies of Troop 62041 and do them proud with a full box, and then some, of non-perishable food.

Learn A Foreign Language Online And In The Library

We could offer many reasons for learning a foreign language–for traveling, adding to your skills list on a resume, communicating with friends living abroad, etc., etc. Whatever your reason or motivation, we’ve got some tools to help you with your language instruction.

MakeUseOf.com produced a list of 7 online games (free) that help with learning a foreign language. Here at the Library, we have–through a generous grant from the Middlesex County Community Foundation, new resources for foreign language instruction including CD-ROM language learning programs, ESL study guides for Spanish and Chinese speakers, bilingual books and workbooks, flashcards, medical phrase books, and circulating MP3 players for downloading language instruction audio books and a Rosetta Stone program for French.

So play some of the games online and when you get more serious with your studies, come in to the Library and make use of our foreign language materials.