Library. Concert. And e-books.
So way back when, when I got my first Kindle, the Nook was a gleam in Barnes and Nobel's eye (or possibly beads of sweat on the brow of their engineers). And when I got my second (which I won in an online drawing, quite to my surprise) the Nook and the Sony were out, and could check out e-books from the library. And they were very proud of this, and rightly so, in my opinion, and the Kindle couldn't do it.
A few months ago I started seeing murmurs about a deal with OverDrive (which apparently handles e-book lending for libraries) to let Kindles check out library e-books too. I didn't pay it much attention at the time because I live in rural Tennessee, which is not the bleeding edge of technological or social change. So I figured the libraries near me wouldn't be doing it for quite some time, if ever.
Now I don't recall if I mentioned it, but several weeks ago, my recording efforts made the local paper--I mentioned to a reporter friend in passing that we should get together and do Y, and would Friday afternoon work, because I was recording Friday morning. And she said "Recording? Tell me more about recording." and from that grew an article. And a couple of weeks ago, a member of Friends of the Library who had seen the article asked me to do the Library's winter concert. For those who are interested, it will be on 7:00pm December 9th at the Jefferson City Library, and will last for 1 hour. (It will be a concert of music I have written, not a Christmas concert.) And she asked me to attend the library's board meeting.
I spent a few days wondering if they were concerned I would be too controversial or were worried I couldn't actually play, but it turned out they wanted to write the publicity blurb for the whole thing and wanted to consult me on the wording. (For those who are concerned, I am planning on leaving the controversial songs out of this set--it's like going to Thanksgiving dinner with your mother in law's second cousin; we want to make sure that everyone leaves the table happy.) The meeting took place in the library, and I happened to see a poster about OverDrive e-books on the wall.
When the meeting was done, I asked, excited and pleased, and yes, it turns out I can check out e-books on my Kindle! I was concerned it might be difficult and arcane, but it's pretty straightforward--the hard part was working out what "region" of Tennessee my library was in, because I live kind of at the intersection of four regions. I basically tried them all until I found the one that had my library. Interestingly enough, after check-out, Overdrive just passes me over to Amazon for the actual file. I have finished one and am most of the way through another. The first one was fairly forgettable--the second book in a series I may or may not pursue. The second book is "Four Fish: The Future Of The Last Wild Food" and it is very thought-provoking.
The selection is not excessively big. But it's popular; a lot of books are already checked out and some have waiting lists. So if money permits, I bet they will be expanding it. This is a great way for me to read some of these books when I couldn't afford to buy them all and then, if there's one I want to re-read a lot, just buy that one.
A few months ago I started seeing murmurs about a deal with OverDrive (which apparently handles e-book lending for libraries) to let Kindles check out library e-books too. I didn't pay it much attention at the time because I live in rural Tennessee, which is not the bleeding edge of technological or social change. So I figured the libraries near me wouldn't be doing it for quite some time, if ever.
Now I don't recall if I mentioned it, but several weeks ago, my recording efforts made the local paper--I mentioned to a reporter friend in passing that we should get together and do Y, and would Friday afternoon work, because I was recording Friday morning. And she said "Recording? Tell me more about recording." and from that grew an article. And a couple of weeks ago, a member of Friends of the Library who had seen the article asked me to do the Library's winter concert. For those who are interested, it will be on 7:00pm December 9th at the Jefferson City Library, and will last for 1 hour. (It will be a concert of music I have written, not a Christmas concert.) And she asked me to attend the library's board meeting.
I spent a few days wondering if they were concerned I would be too controversial or were worried I couldn't actually play, but it turned out they wanted to write the publicity blurb for the whole thing and wanted to consult me on the wording. (For those who are concerned, I am planning on leaving the controversial songs out of this set--it's like going to Thanksgiving dinner with your mother in law's second cousin; we want to make sure that everyone leaves the table happy.) The meeting took place in the library, and I happened to see a poster about OverDrive e-books on the wall.
When the meeting was done, I asked, excited and pleased, and yes, it turns out I can check out e-books on my Kindle! I was concerned it might be difficult and arcane, but it's pretty straightforward--the hard part was working out what "region" of Tennessee my library was in, because I live kind of at the intersection of four regions. I basically tried them all until I found the one that had my library. Interestingly enough, after check-out, Overdrive just passes me over to Amazon for the actual file. I have finished one and am most of the way through another. The first one was fairly forgettable--the second book in a series I may or may not pursue. The second book is "Four Fish: The Future Of The Last Wild Food" and it is very thought-provoking.
The selection is not excessively big. But it's popular; a lot of books are already checked out and some have waiting lists. So if money permits, I bet they will be expanding it. This is a great way for me to read some of these books when I couldn't afford to buy them all and then, if there's one I want to re-read a lot, just buy that one.