YOU’VE BEEN HERE, HAVEN’T YOU? You know, where you sit bolt awake for no particular reason at 2 am, sleep but a fleeting memory.
You don’t feel like playing a computer game, there’s nothing on the tube but offers to buy cubic zirconium or to repent your sins, and you’ve read every single book on the bookshelf at least twice. What to do? What to do?
Well, this week I found an answer: Go to the library.
That’s right, your public library. I don’t mean get literally get in the car and drive, of course. But if you are one of the growing population with an e-reader device, 2 am turns out to be a great time to logon and download that trashy detective novel to take your mind off the million and one reasons you can’t get back to sleep.
Here on the Cape, the CLAMS network (http://www.clamsnet.org/) manages about 3,000 eBooks, available for reading from your Kindle, iPad, Nook, or laptop, depending on the readers you’ve installed.
CLAMS stands for Cape Libraries Automated Material Sharing. CLAMS provides a real regional service, connecting all the libraries and providing backend delivery and shared materials.
Most of us know CLAMS as the way you can have a book from Wellfleet delivered to your local library branch in Falmouth. Or track down a DVD in Harwich and pick it up in Eastham. Like they tell you in kindergarten, sharing is indeed a beautiful thing.
As books move digital, a shared service like CLAMS makes even more sense.
It is easy. You jump to CLAMS from your local library. My beloved physical library happens to be Eastham, and Eastham library’s site offers up a “Download” link right at the top of the page. It connects to a CLAMS page promoting both digital and audio books (http://clamsnet.lib.overdrive.com).
The library didn’t recreate the wheel to make this possible. CLAMS, like thousands of libraries around the country, uses a service from Overdrive (http://www.overdrive.com).
OverDrive, a Cleveland Ohio-based company, develops and manages digital distribution. It handles content for all major platforms, from Mac and Windows OS computers to mobile devices like from Apple’s iPhone/iPad, Android, Kindle, Nook, and a bunch of others.
If you feel insecure, not to worry. The CLAMS folks offer both text and video how-tos that show you the way, even at 2 am when most sensible human librarians are sound asleep. Both are linked from CLAMS eBooks search page (http://library.clamsnet.org/screens/matebook.html)
At 2 am, in my laptop computer window, I see some highlighted stacks: new releases, just purchased, and most popular. I browse a bit.
I can’t help clicking on the title The Dud Avocado. The name just makes me laugh. I see that it was bought by Friends of the Mashpee Library and is available as both Kindle and Adobe epub formats. Hmmm.
Click. I’ve added it to my cart. Once I check out, I’ll have it for a week. I can return it earlier, or at the end of the week it will automatically return itself. Hey, cool. I can’t forget to bring it back!
Let’s see, I want some really light reading. Teen pop writer Meg Cabot writes adult fluff too. There’s a handy search button right at the top of the screen. Select: Author. Now type: c-a-b-o-t. Click the Search button. Ah, with one more click I’m adding Size 12 is Not Fat to my basket.
Oh, and while I’m here, I’ve been wanting to read that latest book in that series. You know the one. Botswana. Precious is the detective. Alexander someone wrote it. Ladies Detective Agency something something. Agh. A straight search isn’t going to help me out here and my poor brain seems fogged in at this time of night!
But look, there’s a bunch of browsing options along the side. Browse eBook fiction. Click. Mysteries. Click. Ohhh. At the top of the mystery listing here’s a Dick Francis/ Felix Francis I haven’t read yet. Click!
And now I can search only within this genre. The phrase “Ladies Detective” brings me a list of the books and I quickly find Book 12, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, and add that to the list as well.
I sadly note that not all the series in the books are available as eBooks, which reminds me of one of the drawbacks. While 3,000 may sound like a lot of books, it barely taps the possibilities. EBooks are still in their infancy and you might not find what you want … yet.
I also wish for more flexible search options. So many times I can remember bits and pieces about a book, but not the structured data like “Author” or “Title.”
But for now, I’ve found a few things that fit the bill and so it’s time to check out. I enter my library card number and I’m ready to rock and read.
I use the Kindle reader on my iPad. I’ve used several reader applications and for a million tiny reasons, I keep coming back to Kindle. I like the physical form of my iPad, but the Kindle reader app has nailed the eBook experience.
Happily, in September, Amazon and OverDrive announced Kindle eBook lending for the 11,000+ U.S. public and school libraries in the OverDrive network. Before this fall, you couldn’t check out a Kindle e-book, but Kindle’s owner Amazon finally worked out the kinks.
The library shows me the books I’m holding in my virtual arms. I click on each to check it out. But here’s another rub. You need an Amazon account. Remember, Amazon=Kindle.
With an account, you just log in and “get library book.” Without one, the only option you have is to, well, create one. Or use a different format of reader. Creating an account is no big deal, but I wouldn’t have the energy to do it at 2 am. Luckily, I just log in to my existing account and I’m on my way.
I flip open my iPad again and open up the Kindle reader. Everything synchs. I turn off the light and settle into the pillows, for a nice mindless read.
Did you catch that? I turned OFF the light!
Yeah, that’s another nice thing about late night eBook reads – no light. How many times have you woken up bright light glaring in your eyes because you fell asleep while reading? Or woken up in the morning with Bitty Book Lite imprints on your face?
Libraries play an increasingly critical role in our digital information age. Paper books remain wonderful and I can’t imagine ever letting go completely. But eBooks add a whole other dimension to the mix.
Whether it’s a middle o’ the night read, a snowy day, a lack of transportation, or using the passage marking and notes functions of the applications, eBooks belong. Thanks to libraries, they belong to us ALL as well.
Click. Read well! And have a good night’s sleep!