Thursday, September 29, 2011

Kindle Books are here!

Yes, I am pleased to report that our Kindle eBooks are here!

Check our website, www.hbpl.org for more information.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Kindle books coming soon!

You have probably seen the latest articles in the LA Times and the New York Times -

Amazon's Kindle books are now available at some libraries.  Don't worry - Huntington Beach Public Library will be getting Kindle books SOON.  Our vendor, Overdrive, is working on rolling the Kindle books out to all of their customers. We expect to get our Kindle books within the next few days, if all goes well.  So if you don't see them yet, just keep checking.

In the meantime, we still have ebooks for IPads, Sony Readers, Nooks, etc.  Just check out our website, http://www.hbpl.org/, for more information on what is available. 

Thursday, September 15, 2011

September is Library Card Sign Up month

Happy Fall, everyone!

It has been awhile since I posted here, and I am sorry that I haven't been around.  The Library has been very busy, and we've had lots of projects getting started.

We had to look at solving a number of problems, as well as help finalize the budget for the new Fiscal Year which starts in October.  We've been talking to vendors, meeting with staff and generally reviewing how we do a lot of things. 

Our budget for next year is once again going down - we had to cut another $120,000 out of the budget, and though it was a challenge we were able to come up with reductions while still maintaining hours and our book budget.

We have been able to add a new collection - we now have E Books for IPads and other reading tablets (though we are still waiting for books for the Kindle - Kindle books are supposed to be available sometime this fall.  Stay tuned Kindle users!).

In the works are a number of computer projects that should help sustain our computer services more effectively. 

So even though things are tight, we are still trying to look ahead and figure out how to be more efficient and effective.  I hope to be able to spend a bit more time here on the blog, and hope to have some interesting posts for you soon.