Mineral County library books now available via Internet

 “No comparison.”

That’s how Mineral County Public Library Director Guna Chaberek described the new availability of library books through OCLC/NetLibrary, compared to previous years of checking out books the old-fashioned way.

Through this new e-books on-line arrangement, county residents now have access anytime, anywhere to over 9,000 titles.

The new titles are full-text, electronic versions of published books patrons can read and search via the Internet, Chaberek said.

To set up an account to access e-books, users need to stop by the library and create an online account.

There is no charge and then e-books will be accessible day or night over the Internet.

“It’s great for people who can’t visit the library during regular hours, Chaberek said.

She added that this is only one part of big changes in materials’ accessibility which have come during the past few years.

In addition to electronic access, patrons can now access materials at 11 other libraries or their branches at no charge, through a shared catalog arrangement.

And inter-library loan borrowings have been greatly sped up.

“It used to take 3 or 4 weeks for an interlibrary loan response,” the director said.

“That’s down to days -sometimes even overnight.”

The only charge for an interlibrary loan books remains at a $2 postage fee per item borrowed.

The Mineral County Library is open from 11:45 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

It is located at 301 2nd Avenue East in Superior, 822-3563.

The Alberton Branch is located at 701 Railroad Avenue, hours Tuesday 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. & 6 p.m. to 8 p.m; and Thursday 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. & 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Their phone number is  722-3372.

The St. Regis School & Community Library is located at 6 Tiger Street, and their hours are Tuesday & Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The St. Regis phone number is 649-2427 Ext. 215.

The Web page for Superior is www.mineralcountylibrary.org.

For more information, call 822-3563.

 Asked how she’d feel about these changes if she were a patron, Chaberek responded, “I’d be very happy - this is wonderful!”