OverDrive's Digital Bookmobile visited Fairview Park Library Saturday to inform patrons of the eBooks, audiobooks and music files available for download. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Library promotes digital services
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview Park
Published Oct. 1, 2008

About 40 percent of all audiobook use during the past year was through a public library, according to OverDrive Inc., a Valley-View-based company that provides libraries with digital services.

OverDrive brought its Digital Bookmobile to the Fairview Park Branch of the Cuyahoga County Library Saturday as part of a technology fair to better educate patrons about the system’s digital offerings.

OverDrive offers eBooks, audiobooks and music files through the library’s Web site, which serves as a virtual branch of the library that can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We have relationships with hundreds of publishers all over the world,” said David Burleigh, OverDrive’s director of marketing.

The library system pays OverDrive a maintenance fee for hosting and fee per title or a package of titles, he said. But as far as the patron is concerned, the company is entirely invisible in the process; the user goes directly to the library’s Web site.

All the patron needs is an Internet connection and a valid library card.

Visitors to OverDrive’s Digital Bookmobile, which was in Fairview Park Saturday, explore the Cuyahoga County Public Library’s online offerings. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

For most titles, the library purchases a limited number of digital copies of an ebook or audiobook that can be checked out at any given time, Burleigh said. A user can place a hold on digital titles just as can be done for books, he added. However, copies of some digital titles are always available, he said.

Each publisher sets specific permissions on each title determining whether the audiobook can be transferred to a portable MP3 player or burned to a CD.

The user must download the OverDrive Media Console to his or her computer. The software is available for Windows PCs. A beta version is being prepared for Mac OS users but cannot be downloaded yet, Burleigh said. However, many audiobooks and music can be transferred to an iPod, he said.

OverDrive specializes in hard-to-find books, bestsellers and current releases, Burleigh said.

OverDrive also services the Cleveland Public Library network and the Rocky River Public Library.

In the area of music files, OverDrive’s offerings do not include popular music but genres such as classical, jazz and blues, Burleigh said.

“Each library chooses what they want to include in their collection,” he said.

The visit by OverDrive’s Digital Bookmobile was part of a larger technology fair at the Fairview Park Branch at which librarians promoted the system’s digital offerings.

Many library materials are now offered in a variety of formats, such as audiobooks, eBooks, and the regular, old-fashioned book, said Becky Ranallo, Internet and media services manager for the Cuyahoga County Library System.

“We’re all about giving people access to the materials in as many ways as possible,” she said.

Ranallo assured patrons that many library services are available at their home over the library’s Web site. These services include access to databases (which are mainly magazine or journal articles) and recordings of authors’ appearances at branch locations.

“We treat the Web site as a virtual branch,” she said.

A growing trend among libraries, Ranallo said, is the ability to offer services through users’ mobile devices such as cell phones. Cuyahoga County, which was the first system to offer text notifications on holds and material pickup information, will soon offer the ability to renew items through text messaging, she said.

The county system is also working on a new interface for its catalog that will include the cover of each title and the ability of users to submit their own reviews, Ranallo said. The new interface should be available by the end of the year, she said.

Fairview Park Branch Director Rebecca Wills told West Life that the technology fair drew a steady stream of people. The benefit was that the event offered instructors and a hands-on opportunity to try the digital technology, she said.

“I think that helps people feel comfortable with a new product or technology,” she said.

Beginning today, the county system is offering audiobooks on the Playaway format at all its branches, said Patrick Steele, the system’s materials selection supervisor. The self-contained audiobook/player was previously only available at four branches, he said.

The separate format, manufactured by a Solon-based company, is convenient for people who don’t own an MP3 player, Steele said.

To access the Cuyahoga County Public Library’s Digital Media Catalog, go online to http://ebcd.cuyahogalibrary.org.