Today we are pleased to announce that we have partnered with two digital
content distribution services to add more than 5,500 new digital magazines,
comic books, manga, and graphic novels to the Forsyth County Public Library eLibrary collection.
Both
services, Flipster and Comics Plus, launched on Wednesday, September 3.
Patrons can now access the services from computers in any FCPL branch, or from
their own Internet-connected computers, tablets, and mobile devices.
Flipster
provides a selection of 40 popular weekly and monthly magazines for adult
readers, such as Time, Money, Southern
Living, Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated, and People. Patrons can browse and checkout magazines by visiting www.forsythpl.org,
clicking eLibrary, and then clicking the Flipster icon or they can download the
Flipster app for iPad or iPad Mini. An app for Android devices is expected to
be released later this year.
“Print magazines have always
been very popular with our patrons, and in the past few years, more and more
magazine publishers have been ceasing publication on some traditional
magazines, and going to a digital-only model.
We felt that now is the right time to introduce this digital format to
our patrons,” says Linda Kelly, Assistant Director for Materials Services.
Comics
Plus will offer over 5,500 comic book, manga, and graphic novels for younger
readers, ages 5 to 13+, including Geronimo Stilton, Sonic the
Hedgehog, Archie, Big Nate, Ninjago, Naruto, Dragon Ball, and Classics Illustrated. Like Flipster, Library patrons can check out
materials from the Comics Plus collection by visiting the eLibrary on
www.forsythpl.org.
The
popularity of graphic novels in print form has grown tremendously at the
Library, says Kelly.
“At
times, we can’t keep enough of them on the shelves to meet the appetites of
these voracious young readers,” Kelly notes. “So, adding a service that allows
these patrons to stream their favorite materials from virtually any computer or
mobile device is a good strategy to encourage them to keep reading.”
Both
of these new eLibrary services include automatic expirations and returns, so
patrons won’t have to worry about late fees. When the borrowing period ends,
the title will simply disappear from the patron’s account. Patrons may log back
into their Library account for Flipster or Comics Plus to check out the item
again, if additional reading time is needed.
