Partnership Brings "The Ohio Digital Library" to Campus

Reading for pleasure has tremendous health benefits. According to a 2009 study at the University of Sussex, taking time out to read for enjoyment helps to dramatically reduce stress levels at a rate much faster than any other relaxation method. Other studies as noted by The Reading Agency, a charity devoted to improving literacy in Great Britain, show reading for pleasure also boosts people’s ability to empathize, a skill necessary for building heathy relationships.

College life is busy. Balancing study, work, family, and social responsibilities can be overwhelming at times, so the need to quickly unwind is essential. While Davis Library at the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College maintains a small print collection of best-sellers and other popular works, most of the funds budgeted for new book acquisitions are designated for the purchase of items that support the institution’s curriculum.

To advocate both the value of pleasure reading and libraries, Davis Library and Dr. Samuel L. Bossard Memorial Library in Gallipolis, Ohio, recently joined forces to promote the availability of The Ohio Digital Library (ODL) to all Ohio citizens. Funded in part by the State Library of Ohio, ODL is digital content lending program featuring the collections of its consortium members, which includes several southeastern Ohio public libraries.

Members of both the Davis Library and Dr. Samuel L. Bossard Memorial Library staffs with the new OverDrive Media Station now located on Davis Library's Main Floor

As a result of this partnership, Davis Library now houses an OverDrive Media Station. This in-library discovery tool allows visitors to browse and sample Dr. Samuel L. Bossard Memorial Library’s digital collection (as well as those of other ODL consortium members) of eBooks, audiobooks, magazines and video from an interactive touchscreen monitor. Davis Library users who have signed up for a Bossard Library Card can send any source on the OverDrive Media Station to their favorite device for checkout using a QR code, email, or SMS text message.

Dr. Michelle Johnston, URG/RGCC President (standing) meets with Susan Randolph, Bossard's Circulation Manager, to sign up for her FREE Library Card

Representatives from Bossard came to campus on Thursday, January 14^th to sign up Rio Grande students, faculty, and staff for FREE Library Cards and to encourage the campus community to make the most out of the wide-range of public library services available to them. Anyone 4-years-old and up (minors require the consent of a parent or guardian) living, working and/or attending to school in Ohio is eligible to register for a Bossard Library Card.

Dr. Johnston (left) receives her Bossard Library Card from Debbie Saunders, Director of the Dr. Samuel L. Bossard Memorial Library (center) & Robert E. Jenkins, President of the Gallia Co. District Library Board of Trustees (right)

With ODL and the OverDrive Media Station, Rio Grande students, faculty and staff can get immediate access to popular reading, viewing and listening materials that may sometimes take days to be delivered to them in print or other media formats via Davis Library’s participation in resource-sharing networks such as OhioLINK or traditional Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services.

While the campus community is gaining more access and exposure to ODL and other services avialble through our local public library, Davis Library is hopeful that this new partnership with the Dr. Samuel L. Bossard Memorial Library will also raise awareness of the availability of their services to the members of the wider community who are not working for or enrolled in classes at the university or community college. Davis Library is strongly commtted to public service and ensuring an informed citizenry.

For more photographs from the January 14^th event, please visit the Davis Library's Facebook Page availalble at: www.facebook.com/jadavislibrary

If you want to learn more about ODL, the OverDrive Media Station, or any other library services offered both on and off campus, feel free to... "Ask Us!"