WOODBRIDGE, Va. — Ahead of Superstorm Sandy on Monday came a influx of downloads of e Books from the Prince William County Library System.
Jean Ross with the library system said 276 e Books were downloaded Monday. That’s up from their usual 180 per day.
PotomacLocal.com asked Ross about how the e Book system is used and why it’s so popular:
Q: Do you think the storm had anything to do with the demand?
A: We are quite sure that the combination of poor road conditions and office closures, with people stuck at home, contributed to this uptick.
Also, many people keep their e-readers charged and might have not had other entertainment options if their power was out, thus leading them to think about downloading an e-book. In addition, the Federal government offices were closed, and Federal workers had an unexpected day at home.
Q: How does the e book download option work?
A: You must have a current PWC library card and from there you go to the main library website and click on “Download and Go” or go directly to princewilliam.lib.overdrive.com.
Downloading is completely free and the steps required vary according to what device people are using (for example, iPads, Nooks, Kindles and others) Users can have up to 5 e-books checked out at any one time, and may place holds on e-books that are checked out.
Q: How long has Prince William allowed for e book downloads?
A:We have had free downloadable e-books since September of 2011, and the collection continues to grow, with new titles added constantly.
Unfortunately, there are some publishers who will not allow library circulation of their e-books, so we have some limits as to which titles we are able to buy.
We do, however, have a well-rounded collection of fiction, non-fiction, romance, science fiction, and other genres to offer users, and all are free with a library card.
Q. Why is this a popular service?
A: As e-readers have become more reasonably priced, more and more users are e-reading, and the library offers a source of free content for these e-readers, which has undoubtedly contributed to their popularity.
