From left, Sherri Miller helps Peter Russell and his grandmother Lois Rode with their iPad during a class on e-readers at Lancaster Public Library.
If you're newly acquainted with your e-reader, you may feel a little shy around it. You're not sure how to approach it to get that e-book you want to read.
This month you can get to "Know Your e-Reader" better with the help of real, live go-betweens in free classes at Lancaster Public Library's Duke Street, Mountville and Leola locations, and also at Ephrata Public Library, which offers a "Downloading OverDrive e-Books" class.
The libraries hosted these classes in the past, but they're becoming more popular.
"The classes are almost always full and sometimes we need to schedule duplicates with just the wait lists," EPL Executive Director Penny Talbert said via email.
With patrons now capable of borrowing digital books from remote locations 24/7, library foot traffic might be expected to decrease.
"Our foot traffic went up almost 3 percent from last year to 1,326 people per day," Talbert said. "People are accessing the wireless with their devices." Wireless service is needed to download books on some devices; if their owners don't have wireless service at home, they can access it free at the library.
• On a recent weekday afternoon at the city library, about a dozen e-reader owners — all but one pre-dating the digital age — gather around a conference table. Eyes flicker from big screen at the front of the room to small screens in front of them as Sherri Miller, adult services librarian, explains the process of borrowing an e-book.
Whether they own Nooks, Kindles, iPods, iPads, Sony Readers or other mobile devices that display e-books, the hour-long sessions aim to make the gadgets seem more user-friendly and enable owners to borrow freely from the Library System of Lancaster County's collection of e-books offered through OverDrive. Available to all library cardholders in the county, OverDrive is found online at lancasterlibraries.lib.over....
Miller tells those in attendance how to download free software needed for PDF and EPUB e-books on a PC, Mac or other device. Then she shows them how to browse the virtual "stacks" most productively, check out a book and download it.
E-borrowers never need worry about returning an e-book on time or paying fines on overdue e-books. The book disappears from the device when the borrowing period expires. And though a renewal is not possible, patrons can borrow a book again and their device will "remember" the page where they stopped reading, she informs them.
While she instructs the group, library Adult Services Manager Craig Haggit goes around the table offering individual assistance.
Paper handouts — a printout page, a glossy brochure, and a handy business card with the OverDrive website address and a place to write in their library card number — are given to everyone for after-class review and reinforcement.
Clifford Rode, of Lancaster, brought his Kindle Fire, which wife Lois gave him for their golden wedding anniversary a year ago. She was there teasing out the secrets of the Kindle app on the iPad that he gave her.
Helping was their grandson Peter Russell, also of Lancaster. "It's a good thing to have grandkids," Lois Rode said with appreciation.
But for those lacking clever progeny to assist them, the Lancaster library offers telephone and email help lines: 394-2651, ext. 105, and askus@lancaster.lib.pa.us.
Ephrata Public Library offers online help through its Digital Library Services Learning Guides at ephratapubliclibrary.libgui.... Patrons are also invited to schedule free one-on-one computer tutoring to "address particular problems with access to our online services," the website says.
Upcoming e-reader classes are scheduled for 6-7 p.m. Tuesday at Lancaster Public Library-East, Leola Branch, 46 Hillcrest Road; 2-3 p.m. Friday at the main library, 125 N. Duke St.; and 6-7 p.m. Jan. 29 at Lancaster Public Library-West, Mountville Branch, 120 College Ave.; and 3 p.m. Jan. 30 at Ephrata Public Library. To register for the Lancaster, Leola and Mountville classes, visit lpl-ereader.eventbrite.com/.... To register for the Ephrata class, call 738-9291.
