RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2009
Contact: Christine Perkins
Bellingham Public Library
(360) 778-7206
cperkins@cob.org
NEW BOOKS, OLD FAVORITES, AND BURIED TREASURES:
EXCITING EMAIL SERVICE BRINGS THE LIBRARY TO YOU
Readers looking for a good book will want to subscribe to Bellingham Public Library’s email newsletter service “NextReads”. No library card is necessary—just an email address—for library website visitors and patrons to subscribe to any of the 23 different newsletters, all of which provide great reading suggestions. Fiction and nonfiction newsletter topics include Biography and Memoir, Fantasy, Mystery, Nature and Science, and Audiobooks, as well as two children's newsletters and one for young adults. Newsletters are sent on a monthly or every-other-month basis, and include up to 12 book recommendations each. Subscribers can link directly to the library catalog from books of interest on the newsletters, and place a hold or request a title immediately. Even those library patrons without email addresses can take advantage of the newsletters by viewing them online, either at the library or from any Internet access point.
Library Director Pamela Kiesner states, “We see the NextReads service as being an important part of our outreach to the community. Bellingham Public Library will be able to better serve its many library patrons who are less able to visit our facilities in person to browse the shelves and book displays to find something new to read. These newsletters are our opportunity to bring the library to them—whether they are at work, school, home, or on the road.” Bellingham Public Library’s website, found at www.bellinghampubliclibrary.org is considered a “virtual” branch of the library, open 24 hours a day, available 365 days a year.
Deborah Brewer, a Reference Librarian at the Central Library, sees NextReads as a way to improve communication with library patrons and the community at large. “Connecting our readers and listeners with books has always been a priority for us. Now we can do that even when the physical library is closed.”
Colleague Diane Formway agrees. “We know we have a large audience of sophisticated virtual library users. We also have a steady demand for reader’s advisory – what’s next in a series, what are other books with a similar setting or storyline, etc. I often need help with these questions and appreciate being able to tap the experts at NextReads.” Formway is enthusiastic about the simple user interface to sign up for the email newsletters, and the clean layout of the lists that arrive in her email each month.
Visit Bellingham Public Library in person or online at www.bellinghampubliclibrary.org to sign up for NextReads today!
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