By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com
There’s a big new library in town for those who like to read on their desktop computers, tablets and even cellphones. Digital content has come to the Yachats Library.
Thanks to a grant secured by The Friends of Yachats Library, “We’ve entered the 21st century in the digital age,” said David Rivinus, chair of the city’s Library Commission.
Now — only for people who live in the 97498 area code — a library card and personal identification number will connect them to an online source of over 58,000 e-books, audio books and magazines.
“We wanted to make this, at least for now, exclusive to people in Yachats,” said Rivinus. “In the past, anyone in Yachats who wanted to use a digital book had to apply to a library outside of town, and pay a fee. Now anyone in the 97498 zip code is eligible to join.”
Requirements are simple: stop by the library weekday afternoons, show your Yachats library card and get a PIN. Then, a visit to a special website called OverDrive will give access to more than 58,000 digital titles.
“Once you click to download a title to your device, it works just like a regular library book: there will be a return date” when the system automatically removes the book from the device, unless the user renews it, Ravinus said.
There is one condition — any overdue paper library books must be returned before access to the system is granted.
Just as with the current online reservation system, digital patrons can put a “hold” on a title, and then download it when it’s available. It will not be possible to physically download any title permanently.
Library volunteer Rebecca Bloch is administering the new feature.
“OverDrive knows how to deal with tech-savvy people like Rebecca who really know what they’re doing, and with people like me who don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to digital books,” Ravinus said.
The eBooks program is made possible by a $7,862 grant secured by The Friends of Yachats Library. That money funds two years of membership by the Yachats Library in OverDrive via the Oregon Digital Library Consortium, which the library has joined.
Joining a statewide digital consortium was a top priority identified by a library consultant late last year. In the spring of 2020, the city commissioned a study on library use and needs by consultant Penny Hummel of Portland. In addition to recommending that the library go digital, Hummel also proposed joining a countywide library network, hiring a half-time director and tripling the size of a proposed building expansion.
The library is a heavily used and prized institution in Yachats, dating back to the 1930s and a lending library run by the Yachats Ladies Club. Its supporters want to expand the 47-year-old, cramped 2,300-square-foot building on West Seventh Street and have received $300,000 in bequests to help with that.