The Thanksgiving holiday is almost upon us.  The Bridgeport Public Library will be closing at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 26th, and re-opening on Monday, December 1st at 10 a.m.  Our regular weekly hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m.

 

Even though the physical library is closed, the online services including Freegal, Zinio, and WVDELI are open 24/7.  WVDELI has over 40,000 items to download primarily ebooks followed by audiobooks, music and streaming videos.  Eleven libraries regularly add content to the WVDELI so new materials appear steadily throughout the month.

 

Bridgeport has signed up for the Advantage program which enables this library to provide certain books that their publishers won’t sell to consortia.  The two best known authors in this category are James Patterson and J. K. Rowling writing as Robert Galbraith.  The only requirement is that users must sign in with their Bridgeport library cards to be able to access these titles.  There are now five of the 11 members of the WVDELI who are participating in the Advantage program and that is why users of the WVDELI will see titles that they want, but won’t be available to them at checkout.  These books were bought by one of the other four libraries.  There is a place to recommend purchases so if you run into this issue, please make a suggestion of this title.

           

The library has over 34 online services ranging from Mango where you can learn a new language to Atomic Training where you can get your computer questions answered to LawDepot where you have access to thousands of legal forms.  Each of these services has their own instructions so we have prepared a brochure which explains each one and how to log on.

 

These brochures are available at the front circulation desk.  Please ask for one when you are in.  If you don’t have a Bridgeport library card, please stop in and sign up for a card.  We require a photo ID or some other means of identification.

 

And don’t forget our very large collection of DVDs, well over 5,000, to keep your family entertained over the holidays.  There is a fee of $1.00 per DVD, but you can check out 10 DVDs for the price of five.  Checkout periods are two weeks with no renewals.  So if you are into binge watching, this might be a good time to start watching the previous seasons of “Downton Abbey” or “The Game of Thrones.”