By Allison Burton
As of April 24, the Adams County Public Library will remain closed until at least May 13, in the interest of maintaining community health. The safety and well-being of our patrons and staff are our top priorities, and we are doing everything in our power to ensure we can reopen without jeopardizing anyone’s health. We will update you with current information regarding our closures as it comes available.
In the interim, we have numerous digital resources with which you can access eBooks, audiobooks, and audio/visual media. You can sign up for the Ohio Digital Library with or without a library card, enabling you to borrow up to 10 items at a time and place up to 15 holds on eBooks, digital audiobooks, and electronic magazines. You can read these items using OverDive on your desktop or tablet, or by downloading the Libby mobile app. For a limited time, Hoopla Digital also allows you to sign up with or without an active library card, if you live within an Adams County zip code. With this resource, you can borrow up to 20 items per month, including eBooks, audiobooks, movies, music, and more.
There are also several other websites available that do not require a library card for you to access free books. Project Gutenberg has a collection of over 60,000 public domain eBooks available for you to download or read online. If you like audiobooks, LibriVox has thousands of digital narrations of classic public domain books which you can listen to online or download onto your computer or other digital device. For college and high school students, you may want to check out FreeTechBooks, a database with over 1,000 free and open access digital textbooks, computer science books, and lecture notes available for you to download or read online. Another useful resource is ManyBooks.net, which has over 50,000 classic and contemporary eBooks for both adults and younger readers to enjoy online or as a digital download.
Remember to tune-in to C103 Country radio every weekday at 9:50 a.m. to listen to the “Radio Readers” program! In this joint endeavor between the Adams County Public Library, the Brown County Public Library, and the Union Township Public Library, you can listen to a classic children’s book, young adult short story, or poem read by an employee from one of these three local library systems. There are new stories and voices every day, so tune-in to 103.1 FM regularly to hear these great literary works.
Library Resource Spotlight: You can find virtual library programs for all ages with the State Library of Ohio’s schedule of online programs! This weekly hour-by-hour schedule displays virtual library programs like Book Chats, Storytimes, and Makerspace sessions provided by public libraries throughout Ohio. It also provides links to these digital programs, so you can access them easily and discover new activities to fill your days at home.
All Adams County Public Library locations will be closed until further notice. For updates and digital resources, please check our social media and website: adamscolibrary.org.
