Lincoln County Public Library users no

longer have to trek to a library for reading material – they can

now download books directly from the Internet.

Downloadable audiobooks have been

available for several years, but the libraries now offer

downloadable e-books as well.

“It’s easy. All you need is an active

Lincoln County Public Libraries card and a home computer with

internet access,” explained Library Director Sami Pierson. “The

best part is that it is a free service for our patrons.”

Both e-books and audiobooks are

available online through Montana Library 2 Go, a service made

possible through a statewide partnership of libraries.

“Considering our current budget crunch,

we can no longer afford to purchase as many audiobooks as we used

to,” Pierson said. “This service allows us to provide a wide

variety of audiobooks and e-books we would otherwise not be able to

provide by purchasing individual books on CD.”

E-books can be downloaded onto a

personal computer, a Sony Reader or a Nook. Currently, software is

not supported on a Kindle. In the future, the libraries hope the

downloadable e-books will be compatible with the iPad, iPod Touch

and various smartphones such as Blackberrys, iPhones and Windows

Mobile.

The downloadable audiobooks work much

like a book on CD, except that the recording is stored online.

Patrons may download and play their selected books on a computer or

an audio player such as an MP3 player or an iPod.

Patrons are allowed to have five items

checked out at any given time, meaning they can have five e-books,

five downloadable audiobooks or a combination of the two. Patrons

have access to the downloaded items for two weeks and at the end of

the check-out period, the selections will lock and the patron will

no longer have access to them, meaning patrons can skip the hassle

of returning a book or CD to the library.

“MontanaLibrary2Go is continually

expanding, so patrons should check out the selections regularly to

see what new titles have been added,” Pierson said.

For more information on these audiobook

and e-book options, check out the libraries’ home page at

www.lincolncountylibraries.com or the Montana Library 2 Go page

atwww.montanalibrary2go.org.