By Annabeth Miller,
ShowMe Times Editor

“The Times They Are A-Changin'."

That could be said of things at Dexter’s Keller Public Library as they prepare to enter the age of eBooks this Wednesday (Sept. 1).

According to Library Director Pam Trammell, the technology is in place and ready to be activated, the staff has been trained and ready to help patrons “check-out” eBooks to their personal readers.

“Mid-morning on Wednesday our link to Missouri Libraries 2 Go will be activated and I will hit that link on the library’s website,” said Trammell. Patrons will be able to click on that link and from there they will go to the library consortium’s website.

“It is very self-explanatory and there are a lot of self-help tools,” she said. Once on the Missouri Library 2 Go website, patrons have some easy steps to follow:

• Find your electronic device (Nook, iPad, Sony eReader, etc.) and download the appropriate software. This will only need to be downloaded once and it is free.
• Go to the dropdown menu at the top of the page and find “Keller Public Library.”
• Login with your Keller Library card number.
• Begin browsing!

Trammell said patrons have to have a Keller Library card number to get into the system.

“If they’ve lost they card and don’t know their number they can call us” she added.

Once setup with a reader is complete you are ready to begin browsing books titles. Trammell said the Missouri Libraries 2 Go program offers a wealth of information on books.

“It gives you so much information about every book – there’s a little synopsis,” she said. “You can search by title, author or subject; you can search just ‘new releases’. You can see how many “holds” there are on a title. You place your hold, and they will send you an e-mail when the title is available to check out.”

There can be about a week wait once you place a “hold” on a new title, and once checked out, the title can be in your device for up to 2 weeks before it expires. She said there is a wide range of material available, including fiction, non-fiction and children’s and young adult books.

“There is no charge at all to our patrons – this is free,” Trammell said. “And there are no late fees.”

The addition of the eBooks program is not a replacement for Keller Library’s hard copy material, Trammell stressed.

“This is an addition – an extra service we will have because we think electronic reading is here to stay. We know the world is changing. We want to get in on this now; our patrons have been asking about this for some time. We are glad the Friends of the Library helped us out in getting our system ready. I hope people are pleased. It will take us all a while to get used to it.”

Trammell said people who have a slow Internet connection could come into the library and download a book and then transfer it to their own device.

“It’s a great addition to all our other services,” she said. “We want to encourage reading in any format – that’s out mission.”

Local Link Of Interest

Keller Public Library

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Photo Above: Library Director Pam Trammell (left) talks to patron Lydia Lancaster about the new eBooks program. (SMT photo by Annabeth Miller)