Launch of digital movie and magazine streaming services »Minden Times
Launch of digital movie and magazine streaming services
Through Sue Tiffin
Here are brief reports on items discussed at a Jan. 12 meeting of the Haliburton County Public Library Board.
Kanopy, a streaming service that gives library members free access to movies and TV shows for adults and children, and a digital magazine service have launched and are attracting users.
HCPL CEO Chris Stephenson said he expects “runaway success” with the magazines, as a service available through the Libby or Overdrive apps gives library patrons access to 3,800 digital magazines. old house log, at Maclean’s, at Fashion magazine, you name it, it’s in there,” Stephenson said. “I read the new yorker last night. They are all free, you can withdraw as many as you want.
He said that in the past 10 days there have been 235 cases of magazines.
“These are very high numbers for a brand new service,” Stephenson said.
Kanopy has been available since mid-December, and Stephenson said a report showed 63 people signed up immediately and more than 100 people were watching movies “upfront.”
He noted that the library is on budget for the service and that in the future a larger collection could be added if the numbers stay below budget and the service continues to be used.
Dorset Book Depot prepares for readers
A new courier has been hired and will undergo training this week to get the Dorset Book Depot up and running. The Book Depot – lockers which have been set up outside Robinson’s General Store to serve library customers in the Dorset area while Dorset Leisure Center space is temporarily unavailable – has was installed at the end of December and lockers have been fitted and secured so that they can be used safely.
“As soon as we can establish who in the area is interested in using the service and placing reservations and using the service, we will start creating a spreadsheet and assigning a locker and getting started right away,” said Stephenson.
He said he expected the service to be available by the end of the month.
Library applauded for community support and awareness
Deputy Mayor of Highlands East Cec Ryall, who sits on the board, thanked Stephenson and staff for opening Cardiff Library after hours to help with the Christmas toy distribution campaign of the Cardiff food bank.
“It’s so popular and a beautiful place to see,” Ryall said. “Thank you and thank you to your staff.”
Three locations in the library were also used for the special EarlyON Jingle Bells outdoor event that took place in December.
“We’re happy to use the library for purposes other than regular hours, it’s just to rally our troops and then create those partnerships in the community and build bridges, which we continue to do, certainly with our new programming and Outreach Coordinator Andrea Brown,” Stephenson said. “We’ve gotten off to a great start in this community and I’d love to see more of it elsewhere in the system.”
Dysart et al Mayor Andrea Roberts thanked Brown through Stephenson for visiting the Gardens of Haliburton retirement home to help promote library book club resources.
The board elects officers
As the meeting was the first of the year, the library board elected a chairman and vice-chairman for the one-year term of the library board. Sally Howson will once again serve as chair of the board and Roberts will serve as vice-chair.
The next meeting of the HCPL Board of Directors will take place on February 9 at 3 p.m. More information is available at haliburtonlibrary.ca or haliburton.civicweb.net.
