Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Using Overdrive and How to Download to Kindles

Overdrive is here, Overdrive is here!!!  If you are not familiar with Overdrive, it's a subscription based website that allows users to download eBooks and Audiobooks on to their electronic devices for free.  Most public libraries have Overdrive (including all in our area), and now our school district also has Overdrive available.  I'm so excited to be able to offer Overdrive to both students and staff as a way to access books from the school library 24 hours a day!

You can download eBooks and Audiobooks onto your: computer, android phone, iPhone, iPod, iPod Touch, iPad, Kindle, Any Device with the free Kindle App, Nook, Sony eReader, etc.  List of compatible ebook readers.

Most adults may not enjoy reading books on their phone, but we have to remember our students are from a very digital generation.  As an experiment, one teacher allowed her students to bring in any device that had the Kindle App loaded on to it (which was a surprisingly large percentage of students).  The students were then allowed to download books to their devices from Overdrive.  I went up to help, and the students were so excited about being able to read on their own devices. One student who normally did not like to read, was quietly sitting in the corner reading off of his iPod Touch.

The Menasha Overdrive site is located here: http://mjsd.lib.overdrive.com
Student's can use their student ID number to check out materials.  Staff will be receiving (if you do not have it already) a letter with your id Number (or you may ask any library papaprofessional) in their mailbox soon.

Further Overdrive Instructions for Our District are Located Here. (only works if logged into your district gmail account)
How to Download Kindle Books from Overdrive

How to Read Early Grade Disney Books Instantly
Overdrive Pro's:
  • Easy to download to Kindle or any device with Kindle App
  • Easy to download and read K-3 Disney books online (if you have the subscription, which Menasha does)
  • Instant access to books.
  • Access to school library 24 hours a day/7 days a week
  • Students can read books on their own devices.
  • If you have the Adobe Digital Editions software loaded on your school computer (we do not) it works great with a Smartboard for class reading.
  • Link right from Overdrive to free public domain books.
  • Links for visually impaired students.
Overdrive Con's
  • Must download Overdrive Media Console software in order to download books to devices other then Kindle or Early Grade Disney Books.
  • Overdrive Media Console not loaded on our school computers (yet)
  • Must have Adobe Digital Editions software in order to read PDF books on computer (which is not loaded on school computers (yet)).
For additional videos and help with Overdrive check this website (you will need to be logged into your school gmail account).


3 comments:

  1. What about from a Nook? I am not understanding how to transfer.

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  2. You will need to download the ePub edition for Nook.

    There is a great video from a Maryland library showing how to download to a nook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w6OTgGIwGA

    ReplyDelete
  3. The teacher who allowed those students to test it out must be AWESOME!

    ReplyDelete