Off the Shelf: Downloadable magazines now at NOLS
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, February 2, 2022
The North Olympic Library System’s collection of magazines just got a lot bigger!
Magazines are a much-loved collection, with nearly 200 titles in print, available to borrow or read in-house. From Adventure Kayak to Yoga Journal, NOLS patrons love to keep up-to-date with the latest issue. Backpackers, gluten-free home cooks, knitters, car enthusiasts and poetry readers are just a few of the hobbyists who’ll find periodicals at NOLS. However …
Magazines can only be read by one person at a time. They frequently wear out and fall apart. Sometimes they get damaged. Titles are housed at only one branch, and holds take time.
In January, NOLS began a one-year trial of downloadable magazines, currently available through the Washington Anytime Library. More than 3,000 popular magazines are now available, including titles like Cook’s Illustrated, Field and Stream, and Mother Earth News.
More than 1,200 regularly-published magazines are available in English, along with 1,300 special single-issue English-language titles.
Readers will also find nearly 200 Spanish-language titles and over 650 titles in other languages, including Afrikaans, Chinese, Japanese, French and others.
Magazines include current and back issues for up to two years and checkout for the same borrowing period (choose one, two or three weeks). No more waiting for the current issue to circulate! All magazines are “simultaneous use”: an unlimited number of readers can access the same issue at the same time with no holds — ever!
And! Magazine checkouts do not count against your borrowing limit. Users can borrow up to five eBooks and eAudiobooks at one time; if a sixth item arrives on hold, you’d have to return another title in order to check it out.
Magazines don’t count towards your five — you can have five eBooks and two magazines, or 4 eAudiobooks and 10 magazines.
Access magazines through the free Libby app for the best reading experience: download magazines for off-line perusal, receive automatic notifications about new issues, and screenshot articles and recipes to save to your device or share with friends.
Libby is compatible with Apple phones and tablets, Android phones and tablets, and Chromebook.
Readers using other devices, including Kindle Fire tablets, personal computers, and library computers can still read the full range of magazines, accessible with the “Read now in browser” tool. Put those reading glasses away: in-browser reading supports OverDrive’s “Accessibility sizes” of text.
To get started borrowing magazines, download Libby to your smart phone or tablet, or use your Kindle Fire tablet or personal computer to visit anytime.overdrive.com/anytime-north/magazines.
No computer? No problem. Public computers are currently available at all NOLS branches, and circulating laptops can be checked out for up to three hours, to use on-site with NOLS WiFi. No physical magazine subscriptions were cancelled to support this one-year trial of downloadable magazines.
For more
For more information about OverDrive and magazines, visit nols.org, call 360-683-1161 or email to discover@nols.org. The Sequim Library is located at 630 N. Sequim Ave.
Sarah Morrison is a librarian with the North Olympic Library System.
