We're Part of Statewide Consortium
More Digital Media AVAILABLE!

The library patrons can download more free digital media – audio books, ebooks, music and video – to their personal computer as part of a new service.

Boyd County is partnering with 11 other libraries in Kentucky and OverDrive Inc. to provide patrons with 24/7 access to a growing collection of digital media, all of which can be checked out free of charge for three weeks.

At the end of the 21-day lending period, digital checkouts are automatically returned to the library’s catalog, so there are never any late fees.

The audio book selection includes 237 titles, including works by Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell and Christopher Paolini. There are also 51 Adobe eBooks and 15 Mobipocket eBooks available to check out, as well as 26 music titles and 20 video titles.

Kentucky Libraries Unbound is the name of the new consortium, which began in late November. In addition to Boyd, the members are the public libraries in Boone, Campbell, Carroll, Casey, Daviess, Grayson, Hardin, Jessamine, Laurel, Madison, Pike, Pulaski and Scott counties.

Card holders can go directly to http://kyunbound.lib.overdrive.com/ or just click the logo at the left. On the resulting site, they can install the necessary free media software, browse the collection and download up to 12 titles at one time.

Downloads to Macs are not possible, nor can downloads be performed on a computer inside the library. When the download to the PC is complete, listeners can then transfer the title to their PDA, MP3 player and even some mobile phones. Downloads to iPods are not possible, but some of the titles may be burned to CDs.

A hold can be placed on a title, and when it becomes available, an email is automatically sent to the person requesting the item.

Kentucky Libraries Unbound is the second digital media service Boyd County Public Library has offered its patrons. In March, the library began contracting with NetLibrary, which currently has about 1,800 audio ebooks in its collection. NetLibrary’s collection contains more classic works of fiction while OverDrive has a lot of best sellers and popular fiction.

With NetLibrary, there are unlimited copies of the titles, so there are no holds to worry about. Just as with Kentucky Libraries Unbound, there are no overdue fines – titles cease to play after 21 days.

NetLibrary and Kentucky Libraries Unbound are both great services for patrons who are too busy to come into the library, Cosper said.

“Downloadable books are convenient and patron-driven,” said Cosper.
“This service broadens our audio collection without the upkeep of a physical collection.”