Altamont Library Notes for Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Library users have lots of great ways of accessing library services from the comfort of their own homes (or anywhere in the world, really), and we’ve made some changes to our online services that we’re excited to tell you about!

First of all, many of you have been using the Overdrive smartphone app to borrow free downloadable ebooks and audiobooks. Overdrive actually has two apps at the moment, one called Overdrive and another called Libby.

The company has decided that one app is better than two, and the Overdrive app will disappear from the Apple and Android app stores in February 2022, and it will no longer receive updates. They’re hoping to migrate all users of the Overdrive App over to Libby.

The good news is that, if you start using Libby, you’ll still have access to the same catalog of digital ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines, and if you have holds placed in Overdrive, you’ll keep your place in line when you make the switch. I happen to find Libby much easier to use than the Overdrive app, and if you need any help in the transition just let us know.

In other new app news, if you’ve tried to use our Upper Hudson Library System Mobile app over the past few months, you may have noticed that it doesn’t work very well (or really at all), so we’ve gotten a new one. You can delete the old UHLS Mobile app from your phone or table, go to the app store and search for UHLS Mobile. (Yes, the new app has the same name as the old app.)

Once you’ve downloaded UHLS Mobile, you’ll be able to browse the library catalog, place holds, check the due dates on anything you have checked out, pay fines, and much more.

Another popular service that you have access to with your library card is Ancestry.com. As many library users know, the Altamont Free Library (in addition to all the other libraries in Albany and Rensselaer) has for the past few years been able to provide our users with access to Ancestry.com and all of the historical and genealogical resources it contains, but only on the computers in the library itself.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, though, access to Ancestry.com has been temporarily expanded to library cardholders doing their research from home, and remote access has just been extended again until the end of 2021! You can log on with your library card here: https://www.uhls.org/ancestry.htm Thanks to the Upper Hudson Library System for working this out for us!

Finally, and most exciting, thanks to our good friends at the Guilderland Public Library, you now have a new way to watch movies and TV for all ages for free by using your library card! Kanopy is a streaming service that is available now for free for Altamont or Guilderland cardholders.

You just use your barcode to start setting up an account (you will need an email too!) and then you have access to a multitude of movies, documentaries, and television shows, and you can watch on a smart device, a streaming tool like a Roku, or on a smart TV. Follow this link for more instructions: https://guilderlandlibrary.org/e-library-landing-page/...

Please call or stop in with any questions and we hope you enjoy!