Lincolnshire library tweaks how it offers digital books to kids, teens
Lincolnshire's Vernon Area Public Library has tweaked how it offers digital books and audiobooks to younger patrons who prefer stories on their smartphones or tablet computers.
The library has split the pages for kids and teenagers on its digital book system, OverDrive. The collections used to be in one section.
"Having separate pages for kids and teens means we can showcase more specific, age-appropriate content for each age group," library spokeswoman Catherine Savage said. "This allows us to show off more book covers on different digital shelves, which will help each age group quickly find what they want."
Downloadable digital books and audio books for teens can be found online at vapld.overdrive.com/library/teens.
Content for younger children can be found at vapld.overdrive.com/library/kids.
The library worked with OverDrive to customize the library's digital portal and separate the two collections, Savage said. The change also was made on Libby, OverDrive's app for phones and tablets that use Apple, Google or Microsoft systems.
The alterations deliberately coincide with the end of the 2018-19 school year and the start of summer reading season.
"Library use goes way up during the summer around here," Savage said. "We do our best to prepare for the summer surge."
To use OverDrive or Libby, customers simply need Vernon Area library cards. Materials are free to download.
Titles automatically expire at the end of the lending period, and - as is the case with all Vernon Area materials - there are no late fees.
As of this week, OverDrive offered 1,184 downloadable audiobooks and digital books for kids and 1,058 for teens.
Borrowing books digitally has become more popular with young Vernon Area patrons. Youth OverDrive checkouts have grown from about 400 per month in 2016 to about 800 or more each month this year, according to library data.
Vernon Area has other digital reading services in addition to OverDrive. They can be found at vapld.info/ebooks.html.