The St. Johns County Public Library System’s bookmobile hosted a special outreach event Sept. 14 as part of September being National Library Card Sign-up Month.
The event was free and open to the public and took place at the new Council on Aging offices at Flagler Health+ at Nocatee.
Presentations were given on how to use the library catalog online, access downloadable materials, utilize databases and place requests for physical and downloadable materials, details about in-person and virtual library events for all ages and many more topics.
Anne Crawford, in charge of adult services at the Ponte Vedra Beach branch, gave a tutorial on how to navigate some of the online services available once a person signs up for a library card.
These services include an app called Hoopla where members can select up to seven materials to check out at a time. It allows them to browse a collection of videos, music, eBooks, comics, graphic novels and digital audiobooks.
She explained how to check out books online and talked about the various online databases that can be accessed.
“Part of what we are doing today is letting the community know how we can help them,” said Leslie Goode, with the library staff’s outreach program. “Hoopla is like our Netflix.”
Goode offered an opportunity to tour of the county’s bookmobile and ask questions about future stops planned.
According to Goode, the bookmobile spans generations of readers.
“People in their 30s and 40s come on board and talk about how they grew up with the bookmobile and they have that nostalgia,” Goode said. “But then you have the young ones that will plop on the floor and just start looking at books. It’s great to be able to provide that.”
Those in attendance were able to apply for a library card on site during the event, if they did not have one already, and check out any materials found in the bookmobile.
According to the schedule of upcoming stops on the library system’s website, popular destinations to find the bookmobile throughout September will be at various Publix locations across the county.
“We’re not back to our full schedule at this point, but we’re pretty much just doing our larger community stops,” Goode said. “We’re so grateful that we’ve got a good relationship with Publix.”
