After careful consideration, in an effort to maintain the safety of library patrons and staff, along with our Digital Bookmboile team, we have decided to pause the Digital Bookmobile tour. This is a temporary pause, planned to run through April 18.

We are sorry to announce that we have cancelled all Digital Bookmobile events through April 18 in response to COVID-19. We are so put off by these cancellations, knowing how hard library staff has worked and how excited visitors must be.

Please reach out to your library staff for their available resources, and if you have questions, please feel free to connect with us on Instagram (@digitalbookmobile). We will continue to reevaluate and make updates on our 2020 tour as we know more.

When you have a job that requires you to travel North America ten months out of the year, people tend to ask a lot of questions about your nomad lifestyle. Here are the most common questions I get about being the Digital Book Specialist with the Digital Bookmobile.

How did you find out about this job?
I had used OverDrive for a few years, so I had known about the company long before I knew that my position even existed. Soon after I moved to Cleveland, my partner started working for OverDrive as a Technical Support Specialist. After he traveled with the bookmobile, he told me about the position. Through him and other OverDrive employees we had met along the way, I was able to keep an eye on when the position came available. I studied my butt off during the interview process, and I was lucky enough to be chosen to take over when the former Digital Book Specialist, Lauren, transferred to the training team.

Do you sleep in the Digital Bookmobile?
Thankfully, no. Ira, our driver, does have living quarters on the bookmobile. We always joke that he gets the short end of the stick in our traveling partnership. He is pretty limited in where he can take the bookmobile due to its size. Typically, he is stuck in truck stops fairly far away from our event sites. Although at the end of our last season, he did discover the beauty of RV parks. I, on the other hand, have a rental car that I can take just about anywhere, have access to a free shower whenever I want, and sleep in luxurious hotel beds.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled with the Digital Bookmobile so far?
This is an extremely hard question to answer! I’ve gotten to travel to some pretty amazing places and there are so many factors that go into how much I enjoy my time in each area. While the bookmobile was in Pittsburgh, I had one visitor secretly setup his wife’s device so that he could surprise her when he got home. Not only did he save our event date in his calendar, he also brought a list of books to borrow that he knew she had been wanting to read. I never thought in a million years that I would walk out of Pittsburgh with new relationship goals!

If I base my choice off of food, I’d have to go with Portland, OR. Every single meal I had in Portland was absolute perfection. The coolest hotel experience I’ve had was in Boston, MA, where I stayed in the tiniest hotel room ever (I’m slightly obsessed with the tiny house movement) with a great view of downtown. While I was in Seattle, WA, I was able to witness the salmon migration, which was easily one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had. I could go on and on but I’ll stop there before things get out of hand!

What’s the best meal you’ve eaten out on the road?
Like I said, Portland takes the cake for food. When the Digital Bookmobile took part in the Portland Book Festival, two OverDrive team members came out to assist. The night before the festival, we ate at this restaurant that served shared plates (unbeknownst to us). We all ordered a different steak dish and, to our surprise, each dish came out individually for us all to share. I am a die hard steak fan, so this was a dream come true. 10/10, would go back again.

Do you ever miss home?
Of course! I miss home frequently when I’m out on the road. I miss my fiance, my cats, my bed, and although I eat a lot of really delicious food out on the road, I miss cooking my own meals. However, when I’m home, I miss traveling with the Digital Bookmobile!

Do you ever get lonely?
You bet. I’m lucky enough to have another OverDrive team member with me for about 60% of the time I’m out on the road, but I spend plenty of time on my own. It took a while to get used to eating dinner alone at the bar at whatever restaurant I chose that night, but now it feels pretty normal. There are a few perks of being alone while I’m in a new place. I don’t have to factor in anyone else’s opinions on how to spend my day and I can make a dent in my Libby wish list while I eat!

What do you do when you travel somewhere boring?
Well, even the smallest towns have interesting things to see, so I don’t think I would call anywhere I go “boring.” I research everywhere we travel pretty extensively before the tour starts, and so far, I have been able to find at least one thing to do in each place I’ve gone. Occasionally I do arrive in a new place after most things have closed and leave early in the morning for our next event. When that’s the case, I find somewhere quiet to read.

Do you meet a lot of interesting people?
Every single day. Between our library partners, Digital Bookmobile visitors, the people that I sit next to on planes, buses, and restaurant bars, I meet some pretty amazing people. It’s one of my favorite things about my job.

After three months of cold weather in Cleveland, I couldn’t have been more excited to fly out to sunny California to start the 2020 tour. This year, we are taking things up a notch! Our 2020 tour is the biggest tour yet with 130 stops in 27 states and 4 Canadian provinces.

At our events, patrons will get all kinds of goodies, including old favorites like pop sockets, pins, pens, stickers and totes, as well as some new swag like luggage tags and reusable straws. We’ve also added a prize wheel that will be used at some events for even bigger giveaways like gift cards and devices!

Over on our Instagram, Joe will be hosting monthly giveaways as well! We put a lot of thought over our winter break on what to put up for grabs. Some of the things I’m most excited to give away are 100 books scratch-off posters, a cork globe to track past travels, and a smartphone camera lens for those that want to snap awesome photos of their current reads or adventures. So make sure to follow us @digitalbookmobile!

This year we are also partnering with our friends on OverDrive’s Outreach Services team to bring some amazing themed events on select dates. Our first themed event will be at Los Angeles Public Library on Valentine’s Day. At this event, we will have a photo booth and takeaway items like literary Valentine’s postcards, ebook heart stickers, and Libby-branded chocolate candies. We can’t wait to share some Libby love in Los Angeles!

Although we are bringing many new changes this year, some things will remain the same. Joe and I will still be around to talk about all things books, Ira will be hauling our precious cargo from state-to-state making library staff laugh along the way, and Libby and Sora will be helping readers access their favorite ebook and audiobooks anywhere, anytime.

While traveling with the bookmobile is my full-time job, I also have what I consider a part-time job as a travel agent. After all, what kind of monster would I be if I didn’t take every opportunity to explore all the awesome places my job takes me? As the Digital Bookmobile team wraps up several projects that we have planned for the 2020 tour (be on the lookout for sweet new swag and exciting Instagram giveaways in the new year), I’ve been really diving deep into the planning of my time out on the road.

When I say planning my travel is like a part-time job, I’m not exaggerating! There are some nights I will scour what feels like every inch of the internet from the time I get home from work until the time I go to bed, carefully crafting an extensive and detailed excel document that includes all the best museums, coffee shops, parks, breweries and restaurants I can find. My method? Using Libby, Instagram, and Reddit to my advantage. Here are how these three resources help me plan my travel itinerary:

Libby
I love borrowing travel titles from Libby, especially because they can be downloaded for offline use to read on the plane. I have a few go-to searches I use to get me started, like specifically browsing by publishers such as Lonely Planet and Fodor’s Travels. These travel guides cover a variety of topics that can focus on specific travel destinations or broaden their scope to week-long road trips.

Once I exhaust those titles, I browse by all travel titles within subjects. This can take some digging, but I’ve found some incredibly useful books this way! Some of the books my library offers in their digital collection that I’m using to plan my travels in 2020 are Roadfood by Jane Stern, Road Trip USA: Cross-Country Adventures on America’s Two-Lane Highways by Jamie Jensen, and The Great American Ale Trail by Christian Debenedetti.

Instagram
In an age where everyone carries a camera in their pocket, Instagram has made it incredibly easy to find unique places, delicious restaurants, and unforgettable experiences in just about any city. The trick to finding travel information on Instagram is all in the tags. There were some speed bumps when I first started using Instagram to plan my travel. I found out the hard way that by simply looking at posts in broad city tags like #sandiego, I would waste so much time wading through memes and ads to get to the good stuff.

The best way to search by tags on Instagram is to be specific. Instead of looking through the tag #sandiego with over 25 million posts, I now browse tags like #sandiegoeats, #sandiegofoodie, or my personal favorite, #sandiegobrewery. These tags have a fraction of the posts and center around food and drinks, making it less time consuming to find exactly what I am looking for. What I like about using Instagram to aid in my travel planning is that I can search for things by picture rather than text, which requires significantly less clicking than if I were to google “best restaurants in San Diego”.

Reddit
Reddit is a great platform to connect with people around the globe that share the same interests, but when I realized that I could use city-specific Reddit communities to form a travel itinerary, it changed the game. Communities like /r/cleveland and /r/sandiego have a thread containing weekly events pinned at the top of the page, and if the community is engaged, pinned threads like these can be useful for finding classes, cultural shows, or special events. Other communities like /r/denver provide full FAQs on their pages, which house a collection of useful information about their city’s tourism.

After I go through those threads, I will then use search words like “travel” and “restaurants” within that Reddit community. This provides individual threads that might have more up to date information than an FAQ that may only change occasionally. What I love about reading these threads is that all the recommendations are provided by residents, who might provide insights on hidden gems that aren’t featured on travel guide websites.

By far, my favorite way to use Reddit when planning my travel is to post in the community myself. If I have a time constraint or I am staying somewhere outside of the city, a post detailing my general location and availability allows residents to make suggestions based off my preferences. This helps avoid activities that don’t fit into my schedule and ensures I get the most out of my visit. There is no question too specific or request too large to pose. Friendly neighborhood Redditors usually has an answer!

By the time I finish browsing Libby, Instagram, and Reddit, there isn’t much the city could offer that isn’t already on my list. These three resources give a great mix of ideas from other tourists, hidden gems from locals, and main attractions from professionals. All of the planning has gotten me so excited to start this year’s tour! I hope you are able to come out and see us in a city near you!

The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to set new reading goals. Whether you want to start reading, read more, or maintain the amount you read currently, the best way to start or keep a habit is to track your progress and make it fun! To help you accomplish your goals, we put together a list of three reading challenges you can take part in this year to help you find (or maintain) reading happiness.

The Professional Book Nerds 2020 Reading Challenge

Could we really make a reading challenge list without including our friends from The Professional Book Nerds? I think not! The Professional Book Nerds are back with a 2020 Reading Challenge that feature 12 categories to push readers to read outside their comfort zone. Professional Book Nerds’ hosts Adam and Jill also share their recommendations for each task on their podcast, making it even easier for you, so be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Did I mention that by completing the challenge, readers are entered to win a free device from OverDrive? What are you waiting for!? You can find the rules for the Professional Book Nerds 2020 Reading Challenge here.

2020 Library Love Challenge

If you think you will have no problem completing the Professional Book Nerds reading challenge, you might as well also take part in the 2020 Library Love Challenge as well. This challenge encourages readers to show their library some love by reading 12 books specifically borrowed from the library. Books can be any genre and any format as long as the book is borrowed from the library. To find out more about this challenge, visit Angel’s Guilty Pleasures blog here.

2020 A to Z Reading Challenge

For those that want to challenge themselves to read even more this year, check out Ginger Mom and Company’s 2020 A to Z Reading Challenge. This challenge motivates readers to finish 26 books over the course of the year, each one with a title that starts with a different letter of the alphabet. Ginger Mom and Company host both an adult and a children’s version of the A to Z challenge, which is a great way to get the entire family involved. Readers that complete the A to Z challenge are entered to win a book of their choice (valued up to $20 at Amazon). To sign up for this challenge, check out Ginger Mom and Company’s blog here.

All three reading challenges allow crossovers from other challenges, which means you can participate in all three. Not only will you get to enjoy a boatload of books this year, but you’ll also triple your chances at winning some awesome prizes! Of course, reading just for the fun of it is a-okay too. Good luck and happy reading in 2020!

The holiday season is an excellent time to utilize your local library’s digital collection. In between all of the ugly sweater parties, family get-togethers and holiday recitals, it can be hard to squeeze in a trip to the library. Fortunately, Libby has thousands of titles to help you survive the busiest time of the year. Here are some of the best ways to use Libby during the holidays:

Use an extra hand in the kitchen

There is nothing quite like the whole family getting together to cook a delicious meal, bake holiday cookies, or sip on spiked eggnog. What’s not so great? Scouring the internet for new recipes for sweets and drinks. Here’s a pro tip: You can borrow an array of books that can assist you in the kitchen this holiday season with just a tap of your finger.

Inspire creativity

One of the best times of the year to break out the big box of craft supplies hiding in the top of the closet is the holiday season. A wreath made with free pinecones from the yard? Yes, please! Whether you’re looking to knit a last-minute gift for a friend, create ornaments to decorate your Christmas tree, or reuse those holiday cards in a fun new way, check out your library’s digital collection for hundreds of books that scratch that DIY itch.

Recuperate with a good book

Sometimes it feels like from mid-November to January 2nd we’re all on a never-ending planning, prepping, cooking, cleaning, and wrapping- loop, but it’s important to find a little time for some R & R & R (rest, relaxation and reading). So, make sure to set aside a few nights here and there to put on your fuzzy socks, snuggle up next to the fire, and download a cozy mystery, winter romance, or a holiday storybook to your smart device. Your body and your mind will thank you.

Become the life of the party

Fill the season with laughter by being the funniest person at your holiday party. Need new material on a moment’s notice? Don’t worry! You can borrow laugh out loud e-content 24/7. Libby has plenty of titles that will keep you and your family laughing through the New Year.

Strive for self-improvement

It’s that time of year again to break a bad habit (or start a new healthy one), but a little assistance never hurt. Let Libby double as your therapist, financial advisor, or personal trainer by browsing the non-fiction section of your library’s digital collection to find a title that fits your New Year’s resolution!

Just in time to fly home and stuff ourselves with turkey, the Digital Bookmobile team wrapped up our 2019 tour. We had been on the road since February, traveling across the United States showcasing our awesome reading apps, Libby and Sora!

We had many successes and made many memories out on the road this year! Here are some of our favorite highlights:

1. I got my road legs
   When Lauren transferred to OverDrive’s training team after two tours with the Digital Bookmobile, I quickly filled her shoes out on the road. It took some adjusting to the cushy lifestyle of crisp hotel sheets and delicious meals at local restaurants, but I eventually got used to it. ?
2. Our core team was formed
   The Digital Bookmobile team expanded as we brought on OverDrive staff from other departments to lead events when Joe and I are needed elsewhere. Dan, Lauren, Max, and Mike are a welcome addition to the team!
3. Tucson Festival of Books
   Joe and Adam (of the Professional Book Nerds) met over 3,000 excited book lovers who wanted to find out more about Libby! During the festival, they had great food, amazing conversations about beloved books, and got to pet a lot of dogs!
4. Our visit to Middletown, Rhode Island
   The staff at Middletown Public Library truly went all out for their Digital Bookmobile event to make it exceptional for not only their patrons but for the Digital Bookmobile team as well! The library hosted various raffles that included three Kindles, gave out Dell’s lemonade (a Rhode Island staple), and made t-shirts and car decals that pronounced their love of OverDrive. Our staff always feels welcome at our events, but Middletown Public Library made us feel extra special during our time there.
5. Finding out new ways the Libby app creates greater accessibility to reading
   During our time in the King County Library System, we spoke with many patrons that lived in an encampment nearby. We met one man that was quite skeptical about our services, but after climbing aboard the Digital Bookmobile, he realized reading on a smart device was the worry-free solution he had been searching for to borrow materials from the library. He explained that unlike a physical book, an ebook can’t be lost, stolen, or damaged in the unpredictable Seattle weather, all real and likely possibilities when living on the streets. We often speak to Libby’s ability to create greater accessibility by emphasizing the apps customizable reading settings or the ability to borrow 24/7 but never considered the problems Libby could solve for those experiencing homelessness.
6. We rolled out our new Sora Challenge
   During our school visits, high school students now compete against each other in a race to finish a scavenger hunt within the Sora app. Winning teams get various prizes and, most importantly, bragging rights. We’ve heard great feedback about the challenge so far from both students and teachers!

It’s good to be home, but we sure do get antsy in the office. Over the next two months, we are putting our heads together to figure out how to make next year’s tour even better with new giveaways, new tips & tricks, and new ways to make a visit on the Digital Bookmobile unforgettable! Until then, keep reading!

“No offense, but I prefer reading a real book.” On the Digital Bookmobile, we hear this often, and oddly enough, I love the challenge of convincing a non-believer. I adore physical books (just ask my partner who had to carry a seemingly endless number of boxes up four flights of stairs when we moved to Cleveland), and my intention as a reading advocate is not to ask you to give up your collection of paperback books. However, occasionally reading on a phone or tablet might be worth looking into. Here are just a few reasons borrowing ebooks and audiobooks through Libby can come in handy when you need it most.

Travel
Libby is a great travel companion for many different reasons. For one, you can leave the stacks of heavy paperback books at home and carry just one smart device with several ebooks downloaded for vacation reading–leaving more space in your suitcase for souvenirs! On road trips, there is no need to worry about changing out CDs, audiobooks in Libby download as one single file so you can just press play and hit the open road. Libby also downloads titles for offline use, which means you can keep reading on those desolate back roads and in airplane mode!

24/7 Availability Anywhere
One perk of digital reading is that things like busy schedules and weather can’t stand in the way of borrowing materials from your local library. Whether it’s work, school, or icy roads that prevent you from getting to the library during their open hours, you don’t have to miss out on diving into a good book. With our one-tap reading app you can borrow a title while on the go or bundled up next to the fireplace right at home.

Accessibility
If you’re in need of large print books, you are no longer limited to the large print section in the stacks. Libby has a variety of text sizes to choose from and once you choose what size font works for you, every book you borrow in the app moving forward will be tailored to that exact specification. Additionally, you can bold the text, increase the line spacing, and use special fonts like our OpenDyslexic font. That’s right! Ebooks are easier than ever to customize to fit your reading needs.

Budget Friendly
One of the best things about borrowing books on your device is that it’s easy on your wallet. Not only do titles automatically go back to the library without the chance of being charged a late fee, but they are impossible to lose and incapable of being damaged. With Libby, say goodbye to library dues forever!

Visiting Washington has been on my bucket list for years, as it’s always revered as a nature lover’s oasis. With three National Parks and an abundance of mountain views, I had been counting down the days until the Digital Bookmobile kicked off the Washington leg of this year’s tour.

It didn’t take long after my plane landed to understand why I’ve heard such wonderful things about Washington. The air smells fresher, the water tastes cleaner, and the view of Mount Rainier even from a distance is breathtaking. Then, ten minutes in, it started to rain…and it rained…and it rained…and it rained…and it rained…

Finally, on the sixth day of rain, I decided I couldn’t stay inside with the Washington wilderness calling my name any longer. So, my coworker Karlee and I ventured to Flaming Geyser State Park in King County, Washington. The park itself is 503 acres of woodlands, and the Green River running through it draws in kayakers, rafters, and fishermen from all over the United States.

Much to our surprise, our visit to the park coincided with spawning season for salmon. Karlee and I meandered down the park’s 1/4-mile interpretive trail, where we observed salmon make their thousand-mile journey back to freshwater to spawn. Being from Ohio, we were blown away that we could witness such a beautiful natural display only feet away from where we were standing.

Our leisurely hike soon turned into an opportunity to learn about how important salmon are to the Pacific Northwest. Annually, sport fishing contributes roughly $1 billion to Washington’s economy. Additionally, 138 species in the region depend on salmon in some way. Even in their death, salmon carcasses provide nutrients to the nutrient-poor freshwater environments. Understanding how integral salmon are to the region made our time spent watching the migration even more meaningful.

The visit to Flaming Geyser State Park will forever be one of the coolest experiences I have ever had in nature, which is saying a lot considering my degree is in outdoor recreation. I highly encourage anyone traveling to the Pacific Northwest in the Fall to seek out the nearest river to witness the salmon spawn for yourself. It will be a sight you’ll never forget!

While the Digital Bookmobile is used as a tool to spread the word of Libby for our library partners, we also get visitors that are already Libby users. When existing Libby users visit, it’s common for them to assume they won’t learn anything new from our team and often don’t want to steal our attention from patrons that are learning about Libby for the first time. In reality, our staff are happy to share tips and tricks for existing Libby users, too! If you are already using Libby to read through your library, here are three helpful hints Digital Bookmobile staff like to share so that you get the most out of your Libby experience:

1. Suspending holds

If you are someone that places holds on highly anticipated reads, you’ve probably run into the issue of having multiple titles appear on your shelf at once. Some people embrace the challenge of cramming in three full-length novels into a single loan period, while others simply don’t have the time to even try. Luckily, Libby allows you to suspend holds until you are ready to read without having to rush before your loan period ends.

When you suspend a hold, you continue to move up the title’s wait list without the title becoming available for you. If you reach the first position in line, other readers will hop over you until your suspension ends, or you place your suspension back to active.

To suspend a hold, go to your Shelf and then Holds. Tap Manage Hold, then Suspend Hold. Use the slider to choose how long you’d like to suspend your hold. Tap Update Hold.

2. Using tags to keep track of your reading history

Tagging is a great way to organize your reading materials. On the bookmobile, we hear many ways our users utilize tags to meet their needs. Some people tag specific categories (think cookbooks or summer reading), wish lists, or books they hated, but one of my favorite ways to use tags is to ensure I don’t read thirty pages into a book that I forgot I read two years ago. What’s awesome about tagging is that tags show up next to a titles jacket cover, even while searching for your next read, so you don’t have to reference an entirely separate list.

Libby comes with three pre-existing tags (book emoji, thumbs up, and thumbs down), but Libby also allows you to customize your own tags. To add a new tag, tap Tag on a book’s details screen or in a list. Tap Add… Name your new tag something like “Read” or “Finished”. Tap Create Tag.

3. Finding Read-Along titles

Read-Along titles are ebooks that are professionally narrated, while also allowing readers to follow along with the text. These ebooks are perfect for young developing readers and those hoping to use picture books to practice new languages.

To access Read-Alongs, tap the magnifying glass next to the search bar. Tap More Options. Under Format, Tap Any and select Read-Along Books. Tap Search.

We hope these tips allow you to get the most out of your Libby experience! For more tips and tricks, tap on the Libby menu in the top right corner of the app to Learn Libby.