In April, the Pikes Peak Library District added three new high-tech offerings to their collection: e-music, e-films and e-readers.The PPLD is currently circulating 50 of the popular Nook e-readers throughout the library system. An e-reader, or e-book reader, is a small portable electronic device capable of storing thousands of books. The Nooks can hold up to 1,500 books at full capacity, said High Prairie Library librarian Becky Campbell. ìA person can check out a Nook, see what the books are, play with it and have an opportunity to see if they like how to manipulate the tool and read off that screen,î Campbell said. The screen of an e-reader is about the size of a typical book cover and is specially engineered to improve readability. The libraryís e-readers are also Wi-Fi capable, which allows users to surf the Web.The e-readers will be available to patrons for a three-week check-out period and are pre-loaded with 22 book titles, Campbell said. The devices are currently in hot demand, with few available for pick up straight from the library shelf. ìAt this point, they are still new and people want to try them, so you would need to have a hold placed,î she said.If library patrons already own an e-reader, they can check out e-books to their device through their cyber shelf. ìThe books check out for three weeks and once the three weeks has ended the book is automatically removed,î Campbell said. ìItís returned electronically.î E-books are similar to paper copies: There are a limited number available for check out at any given time. With that in mind, it is often a good idea to place a hold on a book of interest, Campbell said.PPLD card holders also now have access to freegalmusic.com, which has Sony Musicís entire catalog of songs available for free download. Users are allowed to download up to three free songs each week. Music from the cast of ìGlee,î Adele and Elvis are just a few of the popular artists available on the site. Online digital media stores like Appleís iTunes charge $1 on average per downloaded song. Adeleís song ìRolling in the Deep,î which was recently the No. 1 song on the iTunes chart, sells for $1.29 through the store. Downloading the new single with a library card is free. ìYou do need your card number and your pin, just like you would for any of our other services you would get through our Web site,î Campbell said. ìThree free songs per week; itís pretty nice.”The last of the new additions to the PPLD collection are the free streaming videos now available to card holders 24/7 through their home computers. The e-films collection includes 7,200 full-length, high-quality videos and more than 78,000 video clips. ìThe e-films run a gamut, from history to instructional videos on parenting, home repair, etc.†There is a ton of stuff in there,î Campbell said. Video content is also available on subjects like arts and humanities and health and travel, to name a few. The catalog boasts content from popular television stations like the History Channel, A&E and the BBC.
