Earlier in August, the library introduced a new e-book lending service called Freading to patrons. The library plans to use the new system in conjunction with the C/W Mars lending service that they started using in 2011. Freading features over 22,000 titles and is compatible with the iPad, iPhone, Android tablet and phone, Kindle Fire, Nook, and Kobo.
According to Library Director Rownak Hussain, Freading offers several advantages over the C/W Mars system, one of which is allowing simultaneous check outs of the same book.
Therefore, hypothetically the entire town could take out the same book at the same time. That is a major change from the C/W Mars system , which the library shared with several communities and had only one digital copy of each book. With the Freading system, each book is designated a certain value based upon how new it is. And each week, patrons are allotted 5 tokens to "spend" on borrowing books. The "cost" of each title is featured on the left-hand side.
Downloading both the Freading app as well as any books are free. To do so, log onto the Freading website, hopkintonlibrary.freading.com. Then install the Adobe Digital Editions app on the right side of the screen. Once the app is downloaded, click on any book you want, and download it.
For more information about the new Freading e-book lending service, visit the Hopkinton library's website hopkintonlibrary.org.
