LCLS offers two e-book libraries, in partnership with the Wyoming State Library and other Wyoming libraries.
To access these e-book libraries, you need three things:
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- a valid library card,
- your PIN,
- a device that allows you to download an app. Smart phones, tablets, e-readers and most PC’s have this capability.
(If you need help with your card or PIN, contact one of the first floor desks at the library or read more about it here: https://lclsonline.org/services/pin/)
Initially, you also need access to wi-fi to download and install the app and to download the books. Once that’s done, as long as the device is powered on, you will be able to read the e-books you’ve selected.
The two libraries are the Cloud Library and Total Boox. Each one requires a different app. They also offer different types of collections and function slightly differently.
The Cloud:
Offers the latest books and the bestsellers. It sounds fabulous, and it is, but there are also a few limitations:
You can have five e-books on a card at a time and they check out for 14 days. At that point the digital file becomes un-useable. If you want the book longer, you have to download it again.
Like a physical book, Cloud Library e-books can only be checked out to one patron at a time. With popular items you may have to place the e-book on hold and wait several weeks before you can download it.
Cloud Library e-books can be very expensive, costing up to $85.00 per copy. This means we can’t buy as many copies of the e-book as we purchase in print. Other e-books expire after one or two years or a set number of check-outs and then we have to re-purchase them.
Because of the cost and the fact that some of these e-books expire, our e-book collection will never be as large and complete as our print collection. If you discover an author who has been writing for years and has a published a series with a lot of titles, you’re probably going to have to read the earlier titles in the series in print.
Not every book published is available through the Cloud Library. In addition, there is sometimes a delay of several months from the time the book is published in print until the e-book is available.
Because adult fiction titles tend to be more popular with e-book readers than non-fiction and children’s books, the non-fiction and children selections in the Cloud Library tend to be limited.
Total BooxThis e-book library offers 50,000 books, including dozens of genre fiction titles, children’s books, test study guides, travel guides, craft books, cookbooks and biographies.
Total Boox e-books can be downloaded and read by multiple users at the same time. So you never have to wait for a title you want to read.
Total Boox buys e-books from small publishers, which means you won’t find the top bestsellers here.
To set up your account, your card must be completely clear of fees and overdue items or Total Boox won’t recognize your library card as valid. But once you get the app set up, you will be able to download books even if you owe some fees.
There is no check-out period for e-books from Total Boox The e-book can remain on your device as long as you want to keep it.
In addition to e-book libraries, the Wyoming Libraries system offers downloadable audiobooks through One Click Digital and digital magazines through Zinio. Both these libraries require an app and function a little differently than the e-book libraries. For more information on Zinio and One Click Digital, or advice and help with the Cloud Library or Total Boox, contact the 1st or 3rd floor Ask Here desks. Or check out our databases page here: https://lclsonline.org/services/researchdatabases/ .
Happy digital reading! – Mary G.