Greetings from the Great Bend Public Library! Happy Thursday to everyone and happy spring. If you weren’t aware, the spring equinox was on the 19th, meaning it is officially spring. This is the time of year when we start spending more time outdoors enjoying the weather, gardening, and visiting one of our beautiful parks - before the sun decides to turn completely on us and send us scurrying indoors to AC and fans, in from the summer heat. Just because we are spending more time outdoors doesn’t mean our to-be-read list doesn’t continue to grow! So, I thought this would be a good time to discuss our audiobook services. You can still read physical books outside, of course, and sometimes it’s the perfect spot to get in a few chapters, but when you find yourself out enjoying the weather in less-than-conducive reading activities like gardening, watching your children at the park, or going on a bike ride, you may find an audiobook is a perfect companion for enjoying the spring weather.
We have three apps that you can gain access to completely free of charge at the library, the first two being Hoopla and Libby. Both are available free for downloading audiobooks straight to your device as a service included with your Great Bend Public Library card. Libby has thousands of ebooks and audiobooks you can borrow with no limit, and Hoopla offers thousands of audiobooks as well as ebooks, comics, music, movies, and even TV shows. With Hoopla, you are limited to four checkouts a month, and due to its popularity, you may need to wait until the next day to check out what you’re looking for, depending on how many other users have checked out that day. On the upside, there is no hold list, so if you see a book you want to check out it will be available straight away. The best time to check out to ensure your best chance of getting your item right away is after midnight or early in the morning. With Libby you have unlimited checkouts, but because it works like a physical library where the amount of copies of each item is limited, you may need to put an item on hold if it’s popular enough. However, with thousands of options, I’m sure you can find something while you wait.
The third app is Cloud Library, which is offered through the State Library of Kansas. If you do not have a State Library card already, we can get you signed up for one here at the Great Bend Public Library. There are tons of benefits to having a State Library card, one of which is access to Cloud Library. Cloud Library is another digital lending service for ebooks and audiobooks. It works very similarly to Libby with unlimited access to their catalog but with limited copies available of each item. So if you’re looking for a particularly popular audiobook, you may be put on a hold list, but you can check out as many available audiobooks as you want while you wait.
Between the three, I think you’ll find that it’s pretty easy to find whatever you may be looking for. I rarely find that one of the three doesn’t have what I’m looking for. In addition to all three being completely free to use, they also all allow you to download the books you have checked out onto your device. If you don’t have access to WiFi or are heading to a remote area for the weekend, download your selection at the library using our free WiFi, or at home before you head out to ensure you can listen wherever you are.
Hannah Grippin is outreach manager at the Great Bend Public Library. To see what else we’re up to at the library, visit our Facebook page and our website, greatbendpl.info. You can also message us on Facebook, email us at gbcirc@gmail.com, or give us a call at 620-792-2409 for any questions about our programming or services.
