The 21st century bookmobile will be coming to River Forest.
Just as the old-fashioned version introduced the world of regular-bound materials, this more updated bookmobile will offer everything a reader wants to know about the world of E-books and like-formatted items.
The OverDrive Digital Bookmobile will be parked in the lot between the public library and Roosevelt Middle School from 3 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 5.
And inside this 74-foot long tractor-trailer, visitors will find a high-tech trove of materials so that the initiated and uninitiated can explore the world of the E-books, audiobooks, music and video.
They’ll get plenty of hands-on experience using the different formats and materials so newcomers to the digital world can explore what’s possible.
“People can sit and watch a video about how to use eBooks, there’ll be a bunch of touchscreens so they can look at the Media on Demand site,” said Blaise Dierks, adult services manager at the River Forest Public Library, 735 Lathrop.
Readers looking to start reading E-books can visit the Digital Gadget Gallery to see which device may be best for them.
Visitors also can browse the library’s digital collection, learn how to download the OverDrive app to access materials, find items that are the most popular and E-books available only to River Forest residents (best to bring a library card). Dierks said one example is Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, the winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize for fiction that has been on the New York Times best seller list for nearly 40 weeks.
Because the truck is equipped with Wi-Fi, visitors can bring their own readers, Dierks said.
A River Forest librarian took a tour of the Digital Bookmobile and thought it would be a good way for users to learn about this ever-expanding world. And in River Forest, the use of digital materials has grown since they were first introduced in May 2009.
Here are some interesting bytes of info on digital material at the River Forest Public Library. According to Dierks:
Econtent circulation has grown from 494 items checked out in fiscal year 2009-10 to 8,388 in fiscal year 2013-14. The fiscal year runs from May 1 to April 30.
About 17 percent of River Forest Library cardholders, roughly 1,400 are registered in OverDrive.
During the last fiscal year, 80 percent of the eBooks that circulated were fiction titles; 20 percent of the titles were non-fiction.
EBooks made up more than 75 percent of the digital circulation; E audiobooks made up 23 percent. Most users read/listened for pleasure on their digital devices.
New York Times fiction and non-fiction bestsellers topped the circulation of adult, teen titles in eBook and eAudio book formats. Multiple copies are usually purchased.
The most popular format for eBooks? Kindle.
Certainly the popularity of eBooks is growing but people sometimes turn to them so they can get a title a little quicker. But bottom line, “a reader is a reader,” Dierks said.
CONTACT: deb@oakpark.com
