e-magazines

The library that never closes

Readers and listeners deprived of access to the physical libraries and book buses turned to our free electronic resources in huge numbers during the three months of lockdown.

Below is a chart comparing issues for 2019 and 2020 of eBooks and eAudiobooks from our largest collections, Wheelers and Borrowbox eBooks, and Borrowbox and Ulverscroft  eAudiobooks (talking books).


Image by: Kay Mercer

During lockdown we raced to add more new titles to the eBooks and eAudio platforms! Despite our best efforts it was necessary for avid readers to place reserves on the most popular titles. Holds are free on e-resources and we counted almost 8000 holds during April, May and June 2020, compared to 3750 for the same three months in 2019.

Below is the comparison for numbers of readers accessing our free, world-wide selection of newspapers and magazines on the PressReader app. It was exciting for those of us tracking use from home to see these increases.


Image by: Kay Mercer

We added free movies and TV shows with the Beamafilm streaming service in March. In April, May and June, library members watched a total of nearly nine thousand films and TV series episodes.

Children’s dedicated electronic resources include the World Book Encyclopedia– updated in real time, it’s a great place to go for homework and general knowledge, as well as crafts and games for the little ones. More than 900 people looked up articles in the encyclopedia during lockdown.

Check out our Digital Library (accessible through the library’s web page) for a full range of our wonderful, free resources. Tutorials are included for most. And did I mention Romance Book Cloud? Offering unlimited access (no holds necessary) to 1668 of the best romance books anywhere, with genres covered including contemporary, historical, regency, paranormal, LGBTQ and Western. What’s not to love?

Not previously mentioned but totally free and available digital resources: British Newspaper Archive, Ancestry (genealogy) Library Edition* and Find My Past - free if accessed on a library computer at one of our libraries; DuoLingo learn a language, Story Box Library, Tumblebooks, HeiHei games, and AudioBookCloud.

*in breaking news, home access to Ancestry Library Edition has been granted until 30th September 2020!