New eBook lending service at Nailsea library

More than 700 eBook titles can now be downloaded for free by anyone with a PC or laptop with a compatible portable device thanks to a new pilot service being launched at public libraries in North Somerset including Nailsea.

The new service is being launched as part of a week-long UK-wide celebration of libraries leading up to National Libraries Day on Saturday, February 4. 

Despite this new service Nailsea library is likely to open six less hours a week at as North Somerset Council looks to make savings.

The authority said its library service needs to save £347,000 over the next three years and a consultation into its proposals to change opening hours and staffing levels is currently taking place.

The council has to save a total of £47.3m and is looking to introduce self-service terminals in many libraries.

Although the new eBook service is not compatible with the Kindle it can be used with a number of other leading products such as the Sony Reader, Kobo, Nook, iPad, iPhone and Android devices.    

Library members can choose titles they wish to read, and download them for up to 21 days each by visiting www.librarieswest.org.uk. 

All titles can be borrowed and reserved for free, and loans automatically expire so there are no overdue charges to worry about. 

The service is free to all current library members across the five authorities in the LibrariesWest consortium.   

New eBooks are being added to the collection all the time, and while many titles are not yet available for loan through public libraries the new service offers a range of great books, among them bestselling autobiographies by Stephen Fry, Dawn French and Michael McIntyre, and popular novelists such as Jonathan Kellerman, Nicci French and Lynda La Plante. 

The collection also includes titles across a range of popular genres including travel, computing, gardening and crafts.  

For one day only on Saturday February 4 anyone with a valid North Somerset or LibrariesWest library card visiting a North Somerset library can reserve a maximum of four items in LibrariesWest free of charge. 

On this day they can also borrow two DVDs for one week for the price of one (excluding premium DVDs). Terms and conditions apply to these offers. 

Ask the Enquiry Centre a question from 10am to 3pm on Saturday 4 February to have the opportunity to be entered into a prize draw to win an Amazon voucher. 

The Enquiry Centre can help with any niggling question to which you can't find the answer such as you want to find a poem but  can only remember a couple of lines. 

The Enquiry Centre can be contacted by visiting your local library, ringing 01934 888 855 or emailing answers@n-somerset.gov.uk.

The Bookstart Bear Club for pre-school children will also be launched at all libraries in North Somerset open on National Libraries Day. 

All children joining the club receive a pack containing a certificate, bookmark, door hanger and a special passport to collect stamps each time they visit the library. 

Libraries also offer many other free books, resources and activities throughout the year.   

Visit www.n-somerset.gov.uk/libraries for more information or contact 01934 426 010. 

You can find out more about National Libraries Day at www.nationallibrariesday.org.uk.

There has been no decision on moving from its proposed building into a retail unit at Crown Glass Place.

The current library in Nailsea is said to be riddled with 'concrete cancer'.