What’s the deal with eBooks and eAudiobooks?
In other words, the answer to the question “Can you checkout eBooks and eAudiobooks from the library for free?” is a resounding YES!
Southeast Steuben County Library patrons can checkout eBooks, eAudiobooks and other digital content through two different catalogs, The Digital Catalog and its companion app Libby, and the Hoopla Catalog and its companion app, simply called Hoopla.
It is free to check out materials from both The Digital & Libby Catalog and The Hoopla Catalog, the only requirement is that you must have a library card and a set up a login.
Also of note, although you need an Internet connection to checkout and download digital content from The Digital & Libby Catalog and the Hoopla Catalog, once you’ve downloaded the items you’ve checked out, you don’t need an Internet connection to access your checked out titles.
With that in mind, let’s move on to answer four big, related questions:
1. What is The Digital Catalog/Libby? (A more in-depth explanation!)
2. What is Hoopla? (A more in-depth explanation, too!)
3. Why does the library offer patrons access to digital content through two different catalogs? (and thus, two different websites and apps!)
4. How do you checkout digital content?
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1. What is The Digital Catalog/Libby?
Both The Digital Catalog online and the Libby app for mobile devices, offer access to the same catalog of titles; the difference between them is simply in how you access those titles, online through a web browser on a computer (The Digital Catalog), or through an app on your smartphone or tablet (Libby).
The Digital Catalog & The Libby app are used collectively by libraries in the 48-member Southern Tier Library System, including SSCL, to offer eBooks, eAudiobooks and digital magazines to STLS member library patrons. The Digital Catalog is found online at: https://stls.overdrive.com/ and its companion app Libby can be found in the app store on your smartphone or tablet.
All libraries in the Southern Tier Library System purchase eBooks and eAudiobooks for the catalog, and all titles in the catalog are available to patrons of all the libraries in the system to check out and request, in the traditional library way of one title being checked out by one patron at a time. Patrons may check out a maximum of five titles from The Digital & Libby Catalog at one time.
Also of note, you can additionally check out eBooks from the Digital Catalog and read them on a dedicated eReader (i.e. Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Libra etc.); just how you do that varies depending upon what make/model of eReader you are using – for more information see the “How do you check out digital content?” section.
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2. What is Hoopla?
Hoopla is the name of both the online catalog and app that The Southeast Steuben County Library uses to offer on-demand access to eBooks, eAudios (eBooks & albums) digital comics, digital/streaming TV shows and movies to Southeast Steuben County Library patrons. Patrons have instant access to all titles in the Hoopla Catalog, with a maximum check out limit of 10 titles per card, per month. As with The Digital Catalog & The Libby app, accessing the Hoopla Catalog online, or through the Hoopla app, gains you access to the same catalog of titles.
Hoopla content can be accessed on a computer at https://www.hoopladigital.com, or via the Hoopla app on a smartphone, tablet, smart TV or media streaming player, (i.e. Roku, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV etc.)
Also of note, Hoopla content cannot be accessed on an eReader. So, if you have a dedicated eReader (i.e. Kindle Paperwhite, Kobo Libra, NookGlow Light etc.), you’ll have to checkout eBooks from The Digital Catalog online (https://stls.overdrive.com/) to read on your eReader.
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3. Why does the library offer patrons access to digital content through two catalogs?
The basic answer to that question is that our library wanted to offer more digital content to our patrons, as demand for digital library content has soared in the last ten years.
eBooks and eAudiobooks in The Digital & Libby Catalog, as you’ll recall, can be checked out by patrons of all Southern Tier Library System Libraries, and can further be accessed, if titles are available, by patrons from STLS’s Digital Catalog/Libby partner library systems, Finger Lakes & OWWL. Thus, titles found in the Digital & Libby Catalog can be accessed by many people!
So, our library added a second collection of digital content for our patrons to check out – Hoopla – to give our patrons access to more digital titles!
To check out Hoopla content from our library, The Southeast Steuben County Library, you must have a Southeast Steuben County library card.
And as mentioned, Hoopla content is available on–demand, so you don’t have to wait to check out titles you find in the Hoopla Catalog, if you haven’t reached your maximum check–out limit of 10 titles during the month, per card.
And you might be thinking, why is there a difference in the way content is offered through The Digital & Libby Catalog vs. through the Hoopla Catalog; one copy of an item being checked out by one patron at a time via The Digital & Libby Catalog vs. patrons being able to check out any titles in the Hoopla Catalog, online or via the app, up to ten titles per month all at one time, and the answer is basically, it is a lending model thing!
And I think I can explain the term “lending model” as it relates to the difference between The Digital & Libby Catalog and The Hoopla Catalog by offering an analogy. The eBooks and eAudiobooks in the Digital Catalog/Libby are all purchased as individual titles by the member libraries in the STLS.
For example, eBook and eAudiobook titles are purchased for The Digital & Libby Catalog one copy of a title at a time, and can be accessed by one patron at a time, so checking out titles from The Digital & Libby Catalog is like buying a movie or episode of a TV show from Amazon, Apple, Google Play etc.
So, for example, when David Baldacci’s new novel A Calamity of Souls recently came out, individual copies of that title in eBook and eAudiobook formats were purchased for the catalog. And if a title is very popular, as David Baldacci books tend to be, then STLS will have to purchase additional individual copies of the title to fill individual requests for it, and requesting patrons will have to wait their turn for a copy of the eBook or eAudiobook to become available to check it out.
In contrast, The Hoopla Catalog is like Netflix, you won’t find every brand-new title released in the catalog, although you will find some of them; and the titles you find in the catalog are all available for all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders to check out at the same time.
So, for example, if you wanted to listen to all the William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor mystery eAudiobooks, from book 1 (Iron Lake) through book 19 (Fox Creek) you can do so! And at the same time, so can your local friends, co-workers, neighbors and/or family members.
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4. How do you check out digital content?
First off, a word about getting assistance in checking out library digital content!
If you need assistance in setting up your login, or resetting your password, you are always welcome to drop by the library or call the Reference Desk at: 607-936-3713 x502.
And onto the question of how you checkout digital content from The Digital & Libby Catalog or Hoopla. That question has several different answers. The process is a little different depending upon which device you’re using to checkout content, and which catalog you’re checking out content from.
BUT BASICALLY…
IF YOU’RE USING A COMPUTER
If you’re checking out content to a computer through The Digital Catalog (https://stls.overdrive.com/) or the Hoopla website (https://www.hoopladigital.com/) you create a login with your library card, and then go to the website to checkout and access the content you have checked out; eBooks, eAudiobooks & digital magazines from The Digital & Libby Catalog, and, eBooks, eAudios, eComics and digital/streaming movies and TV shows through Hoopla’s Catalog.
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IF YOU’RE USING AN APP DEVICE:
If you’re using an app device, a smartphone or tablet for The Digital & Libby Catalog; or a smartphone, tablet, smart TV or streaming player for Hoopla, you download the app from to your device and then everything is done within the app. You’ll initially create a login with your library card number, and then you’ll access the digital content through the app on your device, i.e. your smartphone, tablet, smart TV or media streaming player.
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IF YOU’RE USING A KINDLE EREADER:
If you’re using a Kindle eReader the easiest way to check out library eBooks and then access them on your eReader, is once your login is created, 1. Go online to The Digital Catalog (https://stls.overdrive.com/), 2. Login by entering your library card number and password, 3. search for an available eBook you’d like to read and find one, 4. Click on the Borrow button, a pop up window will display asking you to click on borrow again and a second pop up window will display asking you how you want to read the eBook, 5. Click on the option READ NOW WITH KINDLE and you’ll be re-routed to the Amazon website, where you’ll be prompted to 6. Log into your Amazon account, and then you can 7. Select the option to send the eBook to your Kindle eReader; once you’ve sent the eBook to your Kindle, the eBook should appear as a new title on your Kindle.
For all other dedicated eReaders, except Kobo eReaders; the process is a bit different and requires one to download special software (Adobe Digital Editions) to a computer, connect the eReader to the computer and then, checkout eBooks online, download them to a computer and transfer them, through the Adobe Digital Editions software, to an eReader.
The exception is Kobo eReaders. If you have a Kobo eReader you can checkout eBooks through the eReader itself. And the reason for this exception is because the parent company that owns both the software/platform/catalog known as The Digital Catalog & Libby app, also owns the Kobo Company.
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MORE INFORMATION:
The Digital Catalog (also known as OverDrive & the companion site to the app Libby)
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Finger Lakes Library System: The Finger Lakes Library System (NY) encompasses the public libraries in Cayuga, Cortland, Seneca, Tioga, and Tompkins Counties.
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The Hoopla Catalog Online
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OverDrive: OverDrive is the name of the company that provides and maintains the Digital Catalog online, and its companion app Libby. Patrons who have checked out eBooks and eAudiobooks from the library for a long time, may recall the original companion app to the Digital Catalog was called OverDrive too.
The old OverDrive app was retired and replaced by Libby. The OverDrive Company and the Kobo Company are both owned by a larger company called Rakuten, which is why Kobo eReaders are the only eReaders that you can use to directly checkout eBooks from The Digital Catalog to your dedicated eReader.
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OWWL: The OWWL system (NY) encompasses the public libraries in Ontario, Wayne, Wyoming, & and Livingston counties.
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The Southern Tier Library System (NY) encompasses all the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler & Alleghany counties.
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If you have any questions about checking out digital library content, let me know!
Or stop by the library, located at 300 Civic Center Plaza, Corning, N.Y. (right across the plaza from City Hall in Corning.
Or call us at: 607-936-3713 x 502 (You’ll reach the Reference Desk, where we love questions!)
Have a great day,
Linda Reimer, SSCL
Email: reimerl@stls.org
Tel: 607-936-3713 x212
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 