County residents can now take their favorite romance novels, self-help books, and latest bestsellers to the beach, shopping center and work. The Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Digital Library makes hundreds of digital audio-books and e-books available for patrons to download to their home computers. “The Library never closes…this 24/7 service can be accessed from anywhere in the world,” says Library Director Raymond Santiago. “Using materials from Overdrive, a leading provider of digital media, popular ebooks and unabridged audio titles in a variety of genres - from mystery and general fiction to business, travel and language instruction – are downloadable free of charge.”

Patrons can read ebooks or listen to audio books on their PC’s or laptops, or burn them to a CD. Accessibility features are built-in for the blind and visually impaired. To access these ebooks and audio books”, library cardholders can log on to the Library System’s website – www.mdpls.org – and click on the Digital Library link.

As in online shopping, patrons select the titles, enter their library card number, and then check-out the materials. A free, fully-integrated application, the Overdrive Media Console allows the downloading and listening of audio books in high-quality Windows Media Audio format. For ebooks, both Adobe Reader and Mobipocket Reader are available for downloading. Once the free software is installed and activated, downloading an entire book can be done in just a few minutes. Both ebooks and audio books can then be transferred to portable devices, if desired, or audio books can be burned to CDs. When the book has finished downloading, patrons click the “Play” button in the software window and the file begins playing.

Benefits to patrons:

• Patrons can borrow up to ten audio books or ebooks at a time with no need to return them. Once the twenty-one-lending period expires, the titles are automatically checked back in.
• Materials are available from the convenience of a personal computer at any time of day or night.
• There is a large selection of ebooks and audio book titles, from popular fiction to young adult and children’s materials, business, science, humanities and more.
• Items that are already checked out may be requested. Patrons will be notified by email when the item becomes available.
• Patrons can search the text and navigate directly to a specific chapter of the digital book.
• This is a free service, with fast downloading and no late fees.

Miami-Dade Public Library staff is available for general orientation and technical support inquiries. For additional information, please call 305-375-BOOK or visit your nearest library to learn more about this innovative service.