A new feature has been added to the Upper Hudson Library System’s online catalog. Patrons now have the ability to pay for their library fines online with a credit card or PayPal account.
Once you have logged in with your library card number and PIN, click on the Fines/Fees link on the left. If you have fines, you will see the fine total in parenthesis next to Fines/Fees.
To continue, click on Fines/Fees. Please note that you need to have a minimum balance of $1.01 to pay your fines online.
Here you will see a display listing the details about each fine. Click on the gray Pay Online button to continue.
You can select which fines you would like to pay. By default, all fines are currently selected. Uncheck any fines you would like to pay later. Once you have selected the fines you would like to pay online, click continue. Clicking cancel will take you back to the previous screen.
From here you can enter your payment information. In the top right corner, there is an order summary that displays your the total you will be paying today. There are two ways to pay. If you click Pay with PayPal, you can login with your PayPal account and follow the steps from there. The second option is to enter your credit card information and billing address and click the Pay Now button. Once your payment has processed, you will get a confirmation message that your payment has gone through.
If you have any questions, please contact the library. Have you tried out the new pay online feature? Let us know in the comments!
We’ve been working hard to configure a new calendar and room reservation software, and we’re really excited about it! The new calendar went live today. Here is a screen shot of the home page, which can be reached by going to http://events.eglibrary.org:
Navigation
Menu Bar
Home brings you back to the home page of our website, as does clicking our logo
Events calendar brings you to the view you see above.
Reserve a room leads to our online meeting room reservation system. This can be used by patrons who want to request the use of one of our meeting rooms for their group.
Newsletter takes you to a page we have set up for viewing the current newsletter, subscribing to email news, linking to age-specific calendars, and subscribing to events using RSS.
Filters
On the left side of the page, you will see a number of options to limit the visible events. You can select as many filters as you like, but note that a very limited search may return no results. After selecting filters, click “apply” to see the abridged view.
Keyword allows you to search for any word in the event title or description. Keep in mind that events not sponsored by the library cannot be viewed on the calendar.
Age limits to any age group you check. If you are only interested in events for children, check the children box and click “apply.”
Program Type indicates the subject of the program. If you would like to see all of the computer classes at the library, choose the “computers and technology” program type. If you only want to see adult computer classes, make sure you also check “adult” in the age filter.
Room see all of the events in a particular room.
Upcoming and Month Views
Using the green buttons at the top of the page, you can switch between the monthly calendar view and the upcoming view. Upcoming shows events in card format, starting with today’s events.
In the monthly view, you can skip ahead several months by clicking on the month name and using the date picker to advance to any month:
How Do I Register for an Event?
Click to see written instructions, instead. Please note that if you do not provide an email address in your registration, you will not receive event reminders or be notified of event cancellations or wait list promotion.
What if I Registered/Reserved Using the Old Calendar?
Rest assured, our staff has been hard at work making sure all future events, registrations, and meeting room reservations are being transferred. Please let us know if anything went awry in that process.
I Still Have Questions or Comments
Let us know in the comments below or call the library at 518-477-7476. We look forward to your feedback!
On June 1st, the library will launch its new events calendar/room reservation system! We’ve been working hard to find and configure a new calendar for our users that has all of the latest features.
Because switching calendars can be tricky, we decided to coordinate the launch with the beginning of the summer newsletter cycle. Our newsletter came out earlier than usual because of the upcoming holiday, so some of you may be confused by the fact that many of the events we advertised do not appear on our calendar. Fear not! You will be able to register for events as soon as the new calendar goes live. For those of you signing up for events that are available on our current calendar, our staff members will move your registration to the new calendar on launch day.
Stay tuned – we will be posting instructional videos and documents for using the new system the day before we launch.
In case you missed it, OverDrive has released a more user-friendly app named Libby that can be used to consume the library’s downloadable e-books and audiobooks. Recently, the folks at the OverDrive blog composed a handy tip sheet for getting the most out of Libby. We hope you find these tips as useful as we did! Do you have your own tips to share? Let us know in the comments!
If you have downloaded eBooks, audiobooks, or other virtual content, you may have used the OverDrive app. The creators of OverDrive have released a new, more user-friendly app called Libby. It is available for new iOS (9+) and Android devices (4.4+). If your device runs an earlier operating system, you will need to continue using the OverDrive app. There isn’t a Kindle version of Libby, but the app can be used on an iOS or Android device to send to a Kindle, much like the current process of choosing the Kindle format at checkout in the current OverDrive app. It is recommend to use either Libby or the OverDrive app, because the two are not perfectly synced.
What’s Missing in Libby
Some features are still in development, and others are not planned for Libby at all. If you need any of these features, you will need to continue using the OverDrive app:
Streaming Video – not planned for Libby
Accessibility (though font face/size and page color options are available) – text to speech coming in a future edition
Multilingual support – planned for a future release
Recommend to library – planned for a future release
Wish list – this functionality has changed to “tags”, but will not bring your OverDrive wish list to Libby.
Getting Started
First, go to your app store and download Libby. The first time you login, there will be a welcome screen. Tap “Hi” to reveal the setup screen. You can either tap “find my library” to get started, or login with an existing OverDrive account. The following tutorial will be using the “find my library” option.
If allowed, the app will use your GPS to determine your local library. If permission is denied, or Libby shows you the wrong library, you can search by zip code. Select UHLS when it appears. To see other libraries, tap the menu icon in the upper right and select “switch library.” The app will remember the last library you added.
In order to download eBooks or audiobooks, you will need to add your library card to the app. Tap the three line menu icon in the upper right of the screen and select library cards, then sign in using your card number. There is also an Add Your Card option on the blue header of the screen.
Make sure you are in the UHLS catalog before you add a UHLS card number. To add a second library card from another library system (for example if you have a library card at the New York Public Library or at another location), switch to that library in the app, and then add the corresponding card number for that library. Going forward, choosing which library card to use in the menu will determine which catalog you search.
Additionally, you can add multiple library cards in the same library system. This works well if you have different people in your household that will be using the app. To add another card, tap on Library Cards and then Add Another Card. Once a person’s card has been entered, you can add a nickname to make it easier to switch between cards. The default name will be linked card. Tapping on the name linked card will bring up details as well as the ability to change the name for easy use.
To remove a card number go to Menu>Library Cards. Tap on the image labeled “linked card” (or whatever you have named it) and select “unlink card.” Confirm to remove the card and associated titles from the app.
Navigation
There are two main views: Library View and Shelf view. At the bottom of the screen, you will see the Libby icon. To the left, the word “library” is slightly larger than the word “shelf” on the right. This is because you are currently in the library view (default). Tap “shelf” to see loans, holds, and activity related to your library card. Whenever you see the Libby icon in the footer, you can toggle between the library and the shelf. Keep in mind that once you open a book in the app, you will see the book cover picture rather than the Libby icon. Library and Shelf will still be next to the icon. If you tap on the book cover picture, it will open the book.
Library View
On the opening screen, you can use the search box at the top for a targeted search, or you can scroll down to browse collections, genres, etc. Each browsing section has a link to expand the view for more titles.
The menu icon (the three lines icon on the top right) contains the following options:
Switch Library
Library Cards
Hold Notifications
Download Settings (“download only on Wi-Fi” is selected by default) – choose whether to download items to your device or stream them. You must download them to use them offline.
Device Preferences – set whether all eBooks/audiobooks on your device are handled by Libby automatically
Tips and Secrets
Feedback
Borrowing and Placing an Item on Hold
To borrow an item displayed on the main page, tap on the book cover. This will take you to a screen with more information about the item. On the same screen, you can also see if you have checked this item out previously. You can also choose Borrow directly from the search results if you have searched for an item. If the item is currently available, tap Borrow to check it out. If you have multiple cards within the library system, you can choose which account you would like to use to borrow the book.
You will get conformation that the item is borrowed with an option to keep browsing or to go to your Shelf to begin reading.
If an item is unavailable, you will see the approximate wait time until the item is available. You can tap Place Hold to place the item on hold and get an email once it becomes available. After tapping Place Hold, you will get a conformation that the item has been successfully placed on hold.
Shelf View
Loans
When you borrow a book, it is automatically downloaded to your device (unless you change this setting). Tap “open book” to begin reading. Once you start reading a book within the Libby app, the book cover will appear in place of the Libby icon at the bottom of the screen. Please note, if you started reading this title in the OverDrive app, progress will not be synced with Libby. If you are using more than one library system, all of your borrowed items will appear here.
If you tap on the book cover in Loans, you will see the following information and options about the selected title:
Open Book, which allows you to read the book in the app
The ability to renew the item. If it’s not currently able to be renewed, you will be shown the date when you can renew it
The option to return the title to the library
The ability to send the item to another device, such as a Kindle
The ability to tag the title
View more details about the title including a description, the supported formats, and publishing information
Holds
Tapping on the Holds tab will show all of the items you have joined a waiting list for. You also need to visit the Holds section to borrow an item you have requested that is ready for check out. When an item you have requested becomes available, it will look like this:
Once an item you’ve requested becomes available, you have three days to borrow it. If now isn’t a good time, you can tap Deliver Later and choose when you would like to have the item delivered:
Use the slider to choose a time frame that is more convenient for your reading schedule. Once you’ve chosen a time period, tap on update hold.
Also in the the Holds screen, for your items that aren’t available yet, if you tap on the title, you will see the following information and options about the selected title:
Read Sample
Edit the Hold (where to send the hold notice to, if the hold should be borrowed automatically when it becomes available, and if the hold is currently active)
The ability to tag the title
View more details about the title including a description, the supported formats, and publishing information
Where you are on the wait list, and approximately how long it will be before the title becomes available
Tags
Tag books for future reading or create your own tags.
Activity
See a timeline of your activity in the app, such borrowing titles and app updates.
Navigating a Book
Once you have borrowed an eBook, you can read it within the app. In Shelf view, under Loans, you will see all the items you have checked out. Tap on Open Book to begin reading. Once the book has opened, tap the center of the page to reveal navigation options in the header and footer. In the header, you can go back to the shelf view, search the book, add a bookmark, or use the menu icon to see chapters, bookmarks, and reading settings (font size, etc.). The footer shows your progress with page numbers and a slider. Tap the center of the page again to dismiss the menu. Once you have opened a book, the app will remember your progress and Resume will be listed instead of Open Book. The app will open to where you left off reading.
Navigating an Audiobook
You can open an audiobook the same way as eBook. Once the audiobook has opened, in the header, you can increase the speed of narration, set the sleep timer, create a bookmark, or use the menu to access chapters and bookmarks. The back button will bring you back to the shelf view. Use the play/pause icon and slider in the footer to control playback.
