OverDrive changes coming next week

OverDrive is rolling out a few changes on Wednesday, April 29 that you should know about.

First and foremost, there was a change made a few months ago whereby when a Metro cardholder gets a new card, their OverDrive content (hold, wish list, etc.) will automatically transfer to the new Metro Library card. Sorry for not bringing that to your attention earlier. Now, on to the new changes.

OverDrive is removing the limitation that only lets users renew a title (or request it again) one time during their loan period! I don't know if this means unlimited renewals (i.e. until a hold is placed) but any number of renewals greater than one is step in the right direction.

If a user has a title borrowed and the title has (or accumulates) holds, the user will no longer see a “Renew” link for that title on their bookshelf. Instead, they will see a “Request Again” link that lets them join the title’s holds list and borrow the title again when it becomes available. This is the same way that the “Renew” link currently works for titles with holds so this change is simply updating the language.

We currently have narrated eBooks (only in the OverDrive Read format) in our Kids collection but they aren't easily identified. New labels should solve this problem:

On the title details pages for narrated eBooks, users will also see an audio icon next to the OverDrive Read format:

Here are samples of narrated eBooks. Click Read a sample then click Start Narration to see how it works:

Some narrated eBooks even have a soundtrack!

While these samples highlight the words as the narrator reads, not all narrated titles have this feature as it depends on the publisher. Randy Travis, Ray Charles, Robert Munsch, John Lithgow and Ted Danson are just a few of the famous narrators I found in our Kids collection. With Summer Reading just around the corner, these narrated eBooks are a great way for parents and their little learners to participate in SRP and enjoy these stories together.