Gifting Tablets, Phones or E-readers this Season? Do This First!

If there are some tech gifts under your tree, make sure to make the most out of your gifts and have them ready to go out of the box. Tablets, e-readers, mp3 players and smart phones are all popular gifts this year and many of you may have some of these under your tree. Before gifting, take them out of the box and turn them on. You will not only know that you don’t have that rare dud that isn’t going to power up, but it will allow the device to update. It’s not much fun for anyone to unwrap a new tablet, only to find out that it needs a huge update right out of the box you have to wait three hours to use it. While you are at it, give it a full charge so that there will be plenty of time to play once it is opened.

Updated and charged? Now you can add the stuff to your tablet or phone that will make your gift even better.

Get Free Magazines: 
If the person you are giving the gift to likes magazine, load the Zinio app on their device. After that, you can download magazines to your tablet, computer or phone and read them for as long as you want. There isn’t any limit to how many magazines you can have on your device either. Some of the magazines that would be great to read are Better Homes and Gardens, Car and Driver, Cosmo (in English or in Spanish), the Economist, Girls Life and more. You do need your Liberal Memorial Library card number to sign up for an account (and if you don’t have a library card, those are free from the library), but the magazines are free.

Entertain the Kids for Hours: 
If the tablet or phone is a child or someone who has children, make sure to add the shortcut for Scholastic BookFlix and TumbleBooks. These are two collections of children’s stories. The program will read the book and the words and animations flash across the screen. For TumbleBooks, you don’t need anything but an Internet connection to access the books. Go to our library website (www.lmlibrary.org) and find the dancing blue book. TumbleBooks has some great books… My favorite is Robert Munsch’s The Paper Bag Princess read by Robert Munsch himself. They have new books as well, like Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site. To get on BookFlix, you’ll need a State of Kansas Library Card (which is different from a Liberal Memorial Library Card). Don’t worry. Those are free and easy to get with a visit to the library. Both TumbleBooks and BookFlix have Spanish books as well!

We also have e-books and audiobooks available for download from the State Library. You need a State of Kansas Library card to check them out. Come in and get one before the holidays, and bring your tablet, e-reader or whatever and we will help you to get started downloading. The time after Christmas always brings a rush of people who want help, so beat that rush and come in now.

We have phenomenal resources that can be digitally accessed, giving you a library from your own home. By having a Liberal Memorial Library Card and a State of Kansas Library Card, you have access to these resources for free.

Recap:
Zinio – Free magazines with a Liberal Memorial Library card. Sign up for a Zinio Account by clicking on the Zinio button on our website at www.lmlibrary.org/about/zinioinstructions.pdf.

TumbleBooks-Animated children’s story books. No signup required! Free from our website at www.lmlibrary.org

BookFlix- Animated children’s story books. Free with a State of Kansas Library Card (which is available free at the library).

OneClick Audio Books – Free audio books with a State of Kansas Library Card.

3M Cloud Library – Free e-books with a State of Kansas Library Card.

Free Early Learning Software

Labor Day

The Library will be closed tomorrow, September 1st, for Labor Day. The first Monday of September has been dedicated to the workers of our nation since Congress passed the act in 1894. Before that, the idea of a workingman’s holiday was driven by the labor movement of the late 19th century.

Early learning eBooks and games through the library

We all know how important it is to offer early learning opportunities to our kids, whether it’s through reading to or with them or through fun and educational games. Here are a few free and fun online activities that the library has to offer.

ABCmouse

ABCmouse is the newest addition to our lineup. It is offered free to libraries. If you are inside the library you can go tohttp://abcmouse.com from one of the library’s computers or your own device to get free access to the full online curriculum. It is geared toward preschooler through kindergarteners and consists of consist of books, puzzles, games, songs, art activities, and/or printables and covers the subjects of Reading, Math, Science, Art, Colors and Music.

TumbleBooks Library

TumbleBooks library has animated talking picture books. TumbleBooks also has puzzles and games, chapter books, a language learning section, and non-fiction books. There is no login or no software required; it is accessed directly online using a browser on your computer or mobile device. You can follow the link to it either on our library’s website,http://lmlibrary.org, or the state’s website, http://www.kslib.info/digitalbooks.

BookFlix

BookFlix also has animated talking picture books, but they are each paired with a non-fiction book. The books are grouped by subjects that you can browse through to find a pairing you’d like to read. Each pairing includes links to puzzles, games, and other things about the subject. No software required, and it is also accessed directly online. To access it, sign in to your Kansas Library Card, http://kslib.info/ecard, then click the BookFlix access link.

Kansas Library Cards are free to any Kansas resident and can be obtained at any Kansas Library. They are different from your regular local library card.

Britannica E-STAX

Another new addition is Britannica E-STAX. It’s offered through the State Library and is a nonfiction ebook service for Pre-K to Grade 12. You can browse through the ebook collection by title or subject, or you can use the search bar to find what you want. The books can be read online using a browser or offline on a PC/Mac, iPad, or Android tablet using the optional iPublishCentral Reader. To access Britannica E-STAX, sign in to your Kansas Library Card, http://kslib.info/ecard, then click the Britannica E-STAX access link.