County Libraries Add New Online Services

Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL) has kicked off the New Year by launching three new online services — Zinio for Libraries, 3M Cloud Library e-book lending system and Learn4Life – that will appeal to a wide variety of customers.

Zinio, the world’s largest digital newsstand, is designed especially for public library users. The service digitally recreates, page-by-page, full-color magazines with interactive elements such as audio and video; intuitive navigation; and keyword article search. Registered customers may view 100 magazine titles and checkout as many as they want. Customers can keep the magazines in their personal reading list for as long as they choose, with no due dates or the need to wait for a magazine to be returned by another reader.

The 3M Cloud Library e-book lending system currently offers titles from all of the “big six” publishers – Hachette Book Group, Harper Collins, MacMillan, Penguin Group, Random House and Simon & Schuster. Customers can check-out and read books and browse the digital bookshelf from any location. E-books are compatible with PCs, Macs, iPads, Nooks, Androids and 3M e-readers.

The Learn4Life program makes it easy to take high-quality, free courses and career training programs entirely over the Internet. Learn4Life offers:

• Courses that offer special credits or certificates, e.g., Healthcare Certificates
• Academic courses, such as College Readiness Math and Science
• Career Training courses, e.g., Business Fundamentals
• Test Prep courses (GED, SAT/ACT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT)
• Courses of interest, such as Event Planning, Learning to Sell on eBay, etc.

“These are three fantastic services that give our customers access to magazines, more e-books and free online courses and training,” said MCPL Director Parker Hamilton. “New 21st century technologies are allowing us to offer residents more services in our branches and beyond our walls – – – it’s really cool and a smart way to deliver important resources.”
For more information on how to access the new services, visit any MCPL branch or the MCPL website at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library.

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