Featured News Archive

The Libby Magazine Rack is now available in the Libby App!
Just in time for the Holiday Season!

Enjoy magazines, ebooks, and audiobooks all in one place. OverDrive is excited to offer OverDrive Magazines, over 4,000 popular titles supplied in partnership with ZINIO and available to read in the Libby App!

OverDrive Magazines have no circulation cap and allow unlimited simultaneous use, so patrons can enjoy every issue of every magazine. With smart tags in Libby, you can be notified when each new issue is released.

What magazines are offered?

• Popular titles such as Us Weekly, National Geographic, Good Housekeeping, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone
• Special interest titles such as PC World, Bon Appetit, Minecraft World, and Women’s Fitness
• Titles in a variety of languages including Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, German, French, and more
• Rolling 3 years of back issues, wherever available

How do users discover and enjoy OverDrive Magazines?

• One tap to read: When a user discovers a magazine in your collection, they can open it and start reading with one tap, generating a checkout for your library.
• Streamlined access: Magazines will have a new dedicated section of the Shelf, called the Magazine Rack. This will help users find their favorite magazines from your library in one convenient place.
• Easier subscriptions: Users can subscribe to magazines from your library via a new, convenient Subscribe option. When a new issue is released, it will automatically be added to the user’s Magazine Rack and generate a checkout for your library.
• Improved discovery: From their Magazine Rack, users can navigate to the Newsstand, a new view of a user’s recently opened issues and other popular magazine titles in your collection.

Families can sponsor a VOX™ Book for a $40 donation and have their name added to the nameplate of the title they sponsor! You can pick a VOX ™Book from our wish-list or have the library pick a book for you. Ask a library staff member for more details on becoming a VOX ™ Book Sponsor!

What are VOX ™ Books?
Introducing VOX ™ Books, now available at the Otsego District Public Library. VOX ™Books enable children to listen to an audio recording directly from a printed book – no computer, no tablet, no phone.  The books have an audio reader attached to the front cover of the book,  controlled by a push button, which allows your child to listen and read along.  VOX ™readers are a simple yet powerful literacy tool that children love.  Just push a button and listen!

VOX ™ Books combine outstanding picture books and non-fiction with audio recordings that capture children’s attention and make learning and literacy development fun. Studies have shown that VOX ™Books users improve their reading comprehension by 75% and improve their reading accuracy by over 50%.

Search “VOX” in our online catalog to check out this awesome new collection!

Birth – Preschool

The Allegan County Library Association, Allegan County United Way and Volunteer Center, and the Otsego District Public Library have partnered to bring you this amazing program. Developing literacy skills begins at birth and continues through toddler and preschool years.

The best way to ensure a child has the skills necessary to learn to read is having someone read aloud to them. Sign up at the library for our easy, fun, FREE, 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers! Any child that has not started kindergarten is eligible to participate. Anyone in Allegan County can sign up at their home library for this program.

Click HERE for more information and to sign your child up today!

Checkout the Internet with our Wi-Fi Hotspots
Internet access via circulating Wi-Fi hotspots from the Otsego District Public Library is an extension of the library’s mission to meet the community’s information needs. The Otsego District Public Library neither monitors nor controls information accessed through the Internet and cannot be held responsible for its content, quality, accuracy, or currency. The Internet is a worldwide community with a highly diverse user population and it is the customer’s responsibility to use this resource wisely.

Parents or guardians, not the library or its staff, are responsible for the Internet information selected and/or accessed by their children on the hotspot they check out. ONLY RESIDENT ADULT LIBRARY CARDS (ages 18 and up) are allowed to check out ODPL Wi-Fi hotspots.

The Wi-Fi hotspots must be used in a responsible manner, respecting the rights of others, and taking care with use of the equipment. Hotspot settings and passwords may not be changed.

The Library’s Wi-Fi hotspots may not be used for any unlawful or improper activities prohibited under local, state, or federal laws. These activities include, but are not limited to:

• Displaying, transmitting, or exhibiting ­sexually explicit material harmful to minors as defined by the MCL 397.606 (Section 6 of the Library Privacy Act).
• Hacking or spamming
• Infringement of copyright law
• Damaging or altering of software or equipment
• Fraud
• Distribution of unsolicited advertising or propaganda, or propagation of computer viruses
• Libeling, harassing, or slandering other users
• Solicitation of minors

The library does not condone the use of library equipment to access material that can be classified as obscene, pornography, or harmful to minors. The Otsego District Public Library is committed to providing an environment free from sexual and other forms of harassment and hate. Patrons may not access, create, or print materials that may be objectionable.

Library employees are authorized to terminate any user’s access session via hotspots or in-library internet usage for up to one month if the user has failed to comply with the library’s Internet Policy and/or rules. The library director may impose longer or permanent restrictions for violations of the library’s Internet Policy. Internet users whose access session has been terminated or prohibited may request the decision reviewed by the Board of Trustees.

The Otsego District Public Library considers use of any ODPL Wi-Fi hotspot to constitute an acceptance of its Internet Use Policy. Patrons will sign this agreement each time they checkout a Wi-Fi hotspot. Failure to abide by the provisions of this policy will result in the loss of Internet privileges via the Otsego District Public Library.

Wi-Fi Hotspot Checkout Information
Hotspots go out for 1 week with no renewals.
Only Resident Adults (ages 18 and up) may check out one Wi-Fi hotspot per library card.
Wi-Fi hotspots can only be reserved for two days.
There will be a service charge of $5 if the hotspot is not returned on time and needs to be deactivated.

Wi-Fi Hotspot Replacement Costs
A LOST or DAMAGED Wi-Fi HOTSPOT costs $200

• The Hotspot itself costs $150 to replace.
• You will also be charged $25 for the month of service lost to other community members by taking this hotspot out of circulation and $25 for processing, case, and charger, for a total replacement cost of $200.
• If you fail to return the Hotspot at the end of your checkout limit, the service on the device will be deactivated and no longer provide internet access.

Individual items lost or broken replacement costs:

• Lost case: $20
• Lost charger: $15
• Lost instruction sheet: $3

Wi-Fi Hotspot Agreement
Patrons will sign the below agreement at the library upon checkout:
I have read and agree to follow the Otsego District Library’s Internet Use Policy on the flip side of this page while utilizing this hotspot. I agree to return the Wi-Fi Hotspot to ODPL in working order with all parts included (hotspot, charger, instruction sheet, case). I understand if allowing my children to use this hotspot, it is my duty to monitor the content they access and create on the internet. I agree to the checkout limits and replacement costs outlined above.

We are excited to offer the Libby app! This app makes eBook and eAudio use quicker, more enjoyable, and less complicated. Libby has been designed to make first time mobile use of our OverDrive collection simple, with added features over the OverDrive app that would be of benefit to existing customers.

Some of the benefits of using Libby are:

• Simple getting started options and downloads process
• Refined search and browsing options, with new ways to personalize default searches
• You just need to sign in with your library card, and can use multiple library cards at the same time
• A unified book shelf that displays all your titles from multiple cards on the same digital shelf
• Impressive new design and image options
• Download books and audiobooks for offline reading, or stream them to save space.
• If you prefer reading on your Kindle, Libby can send your library books to it.(U.S. libraries only.)
• All your loans and holds are consolidated on a single shelf.
• Keep track of your reading history in the Activity tab.
• Positions, bookmarks, and notes are kept in sync across your devices.
• Sample any book with a tap — nothing to download or delete.
• Try a zoom-able graphic novel, or a picture book with read-along audio.

Libby will not be replacing the OverDrive app at this time but if you are a user of our existing OverDrive app, please feel free to continue using it. Libby does not currently support Recommend to Library or multilingual interfaces, but these features will continue to be accessible through the OverDrive app. Kindle format is not currently supported outside of US libraries.

The Libby Magazine Rack is now available on the Libby App!

Enjoy magazines, eBooks, and audiobooks all in one place. OverDrive is excited to offer OverDrive Magazines, over 4,000 popular titles supplied in partnership with ZINIO and available to read in the Libby App!

OverDrive Magazines have no circulation cap and allow unlimited simultaneous use, so patrons can enjoy every issue of every magazine. With smart tags in Libby, you can be notified when each new issue is released.

What magazines are offered?

• Popular titles such as Us Weekly, National Geographic, Good Housekeeping, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone
• Special interest titles such as PC World, Bon Appetit, Minecraft World, and Women’s Fitness
• Titles in a variety of languages including Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, German, French, and more
• Rolling 3 years of back issues, wherever available

How do users discover and enjoy OverDrive Magazines?

• One tap to read: When a user discovers a magazine in your collection, they can open it and start reading with one tap, generating a checkout for your library.
• Streamlined access: Magazines will have a new dedicated section of the Shelf, called the Magazine Rack. This will help users find their favorite magazines from your library in one convenient place.
• Easier subscriptions: Users can subscribe to magazines from your library via a new, convenient Subscribe option. When a new issue is released, it will automatically be added to the user’s Magazine Rack and generate a checkout for your library.
• Improved discovery: From their Magazine Rack, users can navigate to the Newsstand, a new view of a user’s recently opened issues and other popular magazine titles in your collection.

You can download Libby on:

• iOS 10+ (get it from the Apple App Store)
• Android 7.1+ (get it on Google Play)
• Newer Fire tablets (get it from the Amazon Appstore)

If you have a Windows computer, Mac computer, or a Chromebook, you can use Libby in your web browser at libbyapp.com. We suggest using the latest version of Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge.

Have you looked at the MeL eResources list yet?

The Michigan eLibrary (MeL) is a statewide service of the Library of Michigan, an agency of the Michigan Department of Education. The Library of Michigan works with the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS) to provide MeL services.

There are a ton of amazing databases that you can access from home. These resources cover a variety of topics that cover auto repair, scholastic educational courses, career exploration, and so much more!

These eResources are for children, teens, and adults.

Go to https://mel.org/az.php to find out more about what you can learn in your free time!