Library expands electronic format for book lending
Copiah-Jefferson Regional Library has added Baker & Taylor’s Axis 360 digital media solution to its library services, giving patrons greatly expanded access to borrow and download books in electronic formats to smartphones, tablets, e-readers and computers. Axis 360 delivers digital content in EPUB, PDF and Blio formats to PC and Mac computers, laptops and netbooks, to smartphones and tablets running on Android and iOS, and to popular eReaders such as NOOK, Sony Reader, and Kobo.
The Axis 360 “Magic Wall” can be searched by keyword, browsed by subject, or browsed by genre, such as Fiction, Non-Fiction, Juvenile, and Young Adult. Axis 360 has the additional advantage of being “fully compatible with the leading assistive screen-reader technologies that blind people use to interact with computers and the World Wide Web. The entire digital library experience…is available to blind patrons…with reading disabilities, in accordance with the mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act.”
In addition to the new Axis 360 service, the library offers eBooks through its Freading and ABDO digital bookshelf products. The combination of these services maximizes the number of book publishers, authors, and titles available for eBook acquisition and consequently ensures that materials available to patrons address the preferences of all age groups. Patrons can access the Axis 360, Freading, and ABDO resources at www.copjef.lib.ms.us and at cjrlbooksandmore.blogspot.com. Patrons are encouraged to contact their local library branch for assistance using these products on their personal devices. Copiah-Jefferson Regional Library has branches in Hazlehurst, Crystal Springs, Fayette, Georgetown and Wesson.
CJRL Director Katrina Castilaw says, “We are pleased to be able to offer Axis 360 to our patrons. The Library’s ability to offer free eBook services to our public is critical to meeting patrons’ recreation and educational access preferences while positioning the library to take advantage of future technologies.” This new lending service is partially funded under the federal Library Services and Technology Act administered by the Mississippi Library Commission for the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
