digital services

01 7, 2022

Get more eBooks & Audiobooks with Hoopla Flex

By |2021-12-28T15:35:02-05:00January 7, 2022|

Our digital collection from Hoopla is getting even bigger!

Now our library has added hundreds of the latest and bestselling ebooks and audiobooks with Hoopla Flex. Can’t find a certain ebook or audiobook in our collection or on Libby? Check Hoopla!

Borrowing an ebook or audiobook from Hoopla Flex works similarly to borrowing one on Libby/OverDrive. It it’s marked as available, you can check it out immediately. You’ll have the audiobook or ebook for 21 days with renewal available as long as there are no holds on the item. If someone has borrowed the item you want, you can place it on hold.

To be clear, Hoopla Flex is a new option for those of you specifically looking for new and bestselling ebooks and audiobooks. If you use Hoopla to read comics, listen to music, or watch movies, you can still do that! Hoopla still has nearly a million different titles of  ebooks, audiobooks, comics, music, and TV episodes that you can borrow immediately as part of its Hoopla Instant collection.

Hoopla is free to use with your Mentor Public Library card. You can borrow up to 20 items per month from the Hoopla Instant collection and 10 items from Hoopla Flex. Click here to start browsing Hoopla’s enormous catalogue.

08 11, 2021

Appy Hour: Free Apps & Databases for Back to School

By |2021-08-11T16:00:28-04:00August 11, 2021|

MPL Librarian Ariel Johnson and Mentor High School Student Technology Leader Steven Dohm introduce you to databases and apps that can help students of all ages when they return back to school.

All of them are free to use with their library card or have a freemium version.

The resources they talk about include:

  • LinkedIn Learning – a database filled with video courses led by professionals that can help you improve almost any skill
  • NoveList Plus – a wonderful resource for finding your next favorite book
  • Kids InfoBits – an online encyclopedia made with kids in mind
  • Points of View Reference Center – an excellent resource for researching all aspects of controversial topics
  • Very Short Introductions – a great place to start researching any topic
  • DuoLingo – a freemium app that will help hone your foreign language skills
  • EasyBib – a bibliography generator that makes citation simple
  • Khan Academy – a spectacular free resource with courses on math, science, computing and more
  • Quizlet – flashcards and games designed to help you master any subject
  • Sleeping Tools

Join us next month for another Appy Hour! The next session will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 21. And for more on our digital services and databases, check out our Digital Spotlight.

12 20, 2020

Read the world with PressReader

By |2023-10-18T13:49:59-04:00December 20, 2020|

You can now read thousands of newspapers and magazines from around the world with your Mentor Public Library card and our digital service, PressReader.

Read publications from hundreds of countries in dozens of languages! All you’ll need is your library card number and PIN.

There are three ways to access PressReader’s enormous catalog: our website, PressReader’s website, or the PressReader app.

Screen Shot 2020-12-17 at 12.10.02 PMTo visit PressReader from our site, you can click on the link on our front page or databases index and start browsing immediately. If you visit PressReader’s site directly, you’ll need to search for Mentor Public Library, and then put in your library card number and PIN before you can begin browsing.

Finally, you can use PressReader’s app, which is available for Apple, Android, Microsoft, and Amazon devices. Once again, you’ll need to enter your library (that’s us), your library card number, and PIN to sign into the app. You’ll also need an email address to create a profile.

That’s all you need to start browsing periodicals from all over the globe! So start browsing!

By the way, the PIN you need is the same one you use to access your account on our website. If you don’t know your PIN, it’s probably the last four digits of the phone number that we have on record for you. If there’s no phone number on your account, the PIN will be a 4- digit code using your birth month and day. (For example, 0824 for a birthdate of August 24.) If your account has no phone number or birth date, your temporary password will be CHANGEME. Once a PIN is assigned, you can change yours to anything you wish once you sign into your account online.

06 29, 2020

Study anything for free with the Great Courses & your library card

By |2023-11-04T09:02:31-04:00June 29, 2020|

Whatever you want to learn, there's a Great Courses series about it. And there's a great chance that you can enjoy that Great Courses series for free with your library card.

Whatever you want to learn, there’s a Great Courses series about it. And there’s a great chance that you can enjoy that Great Courses series for free with your library card.

Have you heard of The Great Courses?

They’re a collection of phenomenal lectures series created by esteemed college professors for the general public on fascinating topics like Decisive Battles in World HistoryWriting Great Fiction, and Physics & our Universe.

They’re engaging, enlightening, and understandable. The only downside? They can be a touch expensive to buy.

Fortunately, your Mentor Public Library offers three ways that you can enjoy more The Great Courses for free.

1. Borrow them from us

We have several DVD sets of Great Courses series that you can borrow from our collection, including:

Browse from the dozens of sets in our collection.

2. Stream them using Kanopy

If you’re not familiar with Kanopy, it’s a streaming service that lets you watch some of the world’s greatest films and documentaries. And it’s free with your library card!

It also has dozens of Great Courses series that you can stream onto your computer, phone, tablet, or Smart TV.

Learn as much as you want to about historyskillshobbieshumanities and science.

3. Stream audio versions of the Great Courses for free with Hoopla

By the way, if you prefer streaming audio, you can stream more than 100 Great Courses in their entirety as audiobooks using Hoopla. Once again, Hoopla is free to use with your Mentor Public Library card. You can borrow up to 20 items per month from its collection, which also includes audiobooks, movies, music, and comics.

So what do you want to learn first?

 

11 16, 2019

Freegal Christmas

By |2019-11-16T06:00:55-05:00November 16, 2019|

Download Christmas music (from Dolly Parton to Run DMC) for free with Freegal and your Mentor Public Library card.

Download Christmas music (from Dolly Parton to Run DMC) for free with Freegal and your Mentor Public Library card.

Halloween is over. Break out the Christmas music (unless you’re one of those purists who prefers to wait until after Thanksgiving. In that case, bookmark this page and we’ll see you again in four weeks.)

If you haven’t heard of Freegal, it’s one of our digital services. It lets you stream or even download DRM-free mp3s of your favorite songs. Moreover, once you download a song, you can keep the mp3 forever. Put it on your phone, your computer, your iPod–wherever you want. It’s yours.

If you have a Mentor Public Library card, you can download five songs for free every week, and there’s no limit to how many songs you can stream.

Here are 30 of our favorite Christmas and holiday albums that you can start streaming now:

1. John Legend, A Legendary Christmas

Enjoy a Christmas house party with Legend as your amiable host. Stevie Wonder and Esperanza Spalding make for excellent guests.

2. Pentatonix, Christmas Is Here!

By now, you know the routine. If you loved A Pentatonix Christmas and That’s Christmas to Methen you’ll love the newest holiday offering from everyone’s favorite a capella quintet.

3. William Shatner, Shatner Claus

Merry Kirk-mas! Our third favorite Star Trek captain* guides your through standards like “Winter Wonderland” and “Run Rudolph Run.”

4. Mariah Carey, Merry Christmas

Mandatory holiday listening, if only for “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

5. Jessie James Decker, On This Holiday

The country chanteuse gives a little twang to “Santa Baby,” “Christmas in Cabo,” and “The Christmas Song.”

6. The Piano Guys, A Family Christmas

The Piano Guys have a knack for creating music that’s catchy and innovative while still recognizable as classical.

7. Wham!, Last Christmas

Andrew Ridgely. You were just trying to remember the other guy’s name. It’s Andrew Ridgely.

8. Sarah McLachlan, The Classic Christmas Album

McLachlan already has the voice of an angel, so it feels natural to hear her sing “Silent Night,” “What Child Is This?” and other seasonal standards.

9. Superstar Christmas

The rare compilation that’s not exaggerating when it claims to contain superstars. Mariah Carey, Frank Sinatra, Cyndi Lauper, Placido Domingo, Michael Bolton, Gloria Estefan and Barbra Streisand are all on this eclectic guest list.

10. Polka Christmas

What’s a Cleveland Christmas party without a little polka?

11. Christmas Rap

With all due respect to Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis” is the most important hip-hop holiday song ever.

12. She & Him, Christmas Party

Because it’s not Christmas until Zooey Deschanel sings “A Marshmallow World.”

13. Earth, Wind & Fire, The Classic Christmas Album

Yes, they remake “September” into “December.”

14. John Denver, The Classic Christmas Album

Yes, it’s John Denver, so there’s some schmaltz, but he also sings, “Please Daddy (Don’t Get Drunk this Christmas.”)

15. Kelly Clarkson, Wrapped in Red

With all due respect to Shatner, Clarkson has the voice to make a new cover of Run, Run Rudolph worthwhile.

16Harry Belafonte, Christmas

Belafonte could sing about muddy slush and it would still sound great with his voice.

17. Dolly Parton, Home for Christmas

As a general rule, we love Dolly. This is doubly true during the holidays.

18. Pete Kennedy, Top Christmas Favorites

This album’s for all the people who loved Israel Kamakawiwo`ole’s version of Over the Rainbow. And, no, these standards aren’t performed by IZ, but they have that same combination of earnestness and sweetness.

19. Kirk Franklin, Christmas

If you need some gospel music this time of year, Kirk Franklin and the Family have you covered. Standards like Go Tell It on the Mountainand O Come All Ye Faithful sound sweeter than ever.

20. Harry Connick Jr., When my Heart Finds Christmas

Connick has a lot of Christmas albums in his discography. This one’s our favorite but they are all available on Freegal. Personal favorite: I Pray on Christmas.

21. NSYNC, Home for Christmas

If you bought the CD or even *gasp* the cassette when you were in middle school, here’s a chance to update your medium for free.

22. New Kids on the Block, Merry Merry Christmas

In case your taste in boy bands is a little older…

23. Glee Cast, Blue Christmas

If you don’t like Glee…

24. Elvis, The Classic Christmas Album

Freegal has the Elvis version of Blue Christmastoo.

25. Loretta Lynn, White Christmas Blue

Only Lynn could pull off a tune called “To Heck with Ole Santa Claus.”

26. The Manhattan Transfer, The Christmas Album

Any of the kids who enjoyed the Pentatonix album atop this list owe it to themselves to check out The Manhattan Transfer, who were (in many ways) the progenitor of Pentatonix’s style.

27. Johnny Cash, Classic Christmas

We love Johnny Cash, because he still scowls on the cover of his Christmas album.

28. Miranda Cosgrove, Christmas Wrapping

Not to be confused with Christmas Rap.

29. I’ll Be Home for Christmas

A short fun compilation with Meghan Trainor, Sara Bareilles, Fiona Apple, Fifth Harmony and A Great Big World giving their spin to holiday classics.

30. Wilson Phillips, Christmas in Harmony

We were going to put Wilson Phillips on this list no matter what. They just happened to also have a Christmas album.

Other Freegal playlists:

*after Picard and Sisko.

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