Library dropped Overdrive for 3M. You could be next!

[Bookworm_Girl]

I did join a neighboring city library that also dropped out of the consortium and now has their own Overdrive catalog. I just made some recommendations to them. We'll see if I have any better luck with them than the consortium!

[Bookworm_Girl]

I just got notice that my other Overdrive library (the one not in the consortium) bought the books I requested. That took one month. My city library has been the speediest with a few days turnaround so I guess they really meant it when they said they value patron requests.

My city's catalog has grown a lot since November so the selection is continuously improving. 3M improved their iOS app so it's much more comfortable to read on my iPad and iPhone now. Their desktop software is still horrid, but it's good enough to download the EPUB file so I can transfer to one of my eink readers.

[Froide]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Give it up, BPL is Boston Public Library.

Wikipedia: BPL: Public libraries:

Berkeley Public Library, in California, United States
Birmingham Public Library, in Alabama, United States
Boston Public Library, in Massachusetts, United States
Brooklyn Public Library, in New York, United States
Burnaby Public Library, in British Columbia, Canada

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Froide

Wikipedia: BPL: Public libraries:

Berkeley Public Library, in California, United States
Birmingham Public Library, in Alabama, United States
Boston Public Library, in Massachusetts, United States
Brooklyn Public Library, in New York, United States
Burnaby Public Library, in British Columbia, Canada

And just because it says so in a Wiki does not mean it's correct. In fact, it's very wrong. The only BPL library is Boston Public Library because they have BPL.org as their URL. Also, the first library to have BPL is the only library that gets to use BPL. So all the others are NOT BPL. You cannot share an acronym like that among other libraries. It doesn't work and only confuses things because you say BPL referring some other library when you should be talking about Boston Public Library.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And just because it says so in a Wiki does not mean it's correct. In fact, it's very wrong. The only BPL library is Boston Public Library because they have BPL.org as their URL. Also, the first library to have BPL is the only library that gets to use BPL. So all the others are NOT BPL. You cannot share an acronym like that among other libraries. It doesn't work and only confuses things because you say BPL referring some other library when you should be talking about Boston Public Library.

Sheesh. No one cares. Stop arguing. No one agrees with you, no one is going to listen to your complaints, and everyone except you seems to be perfectly happy calling ALL of them the BPL, and utterly failing to get confused.

YOU WILL NOT CONVINCE ANYONE. You will only aggravate the discussion to the point where the moderators will have to pull us off each other (virtually speaking) -- and maybe lay down a few suspensions as well.

P.S. Bad Froide, for ing JSWolf just when it seemed safe to return to the thread.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Sheesh. No one cares. Stop arguing. No one agrees with you, no one is going to listen to your complaints, and everyone except you seems to be perfectly happy calling ALL of them the BPL, and utterly failing to get confused.

YOU WILL NOT CONVINCE ANYONE. You will only aggravate the discussion to the point where the moderators will have to pull us off each other (virtually speaking) -- and maybe lay down a few suspensions as well.

P.S. Bad Froide, for ing JSWolf just when it seemed safe to return to the thread.

Then just give in and realize that I am correct and wiki (in this case) you and wiki are incorrect. Anyway, enough of this.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Then just give in and realize that I am correct and wiki (in this case) you and wiki are incorrect. Anyway, enough of this.

Edit: thanks Dr. Drib for the quick response. Resuming our regularly scheduled programming now, I hope.

[Dr. Drib]

Moderator Notice

Please take this discussion of opinions to the FEEDBACK FORUM.

Back to the topic, please.

Further off-topic posts will be deleted - quickly and efficiently.

[eschwartz]

I noticed some books I recommended over a year ago have finally been purchased -- all at OverDrive.

But maybe that is a general ebooks trend? because neither library uses 3M at all.

Happy to say, with the exception of Queens all my usual libraries have still not touched 3M or Axis360 (well, Brooklyn did but they still buy most books though OD).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I noticed some books I recommended over a year ago have finally been purchased -- all at OverDrive.

But maybe that is a general ebooks trend? because neither library uses 3M at all.

Happy to say, with the exception of Queens all my usual libraries have still not touched 3M or Axis360 (well, Brooklyn did but they still buy most books though OD).

I think it's an individual library trend. I frequently request eBooks (OD) at one of my libraries I have access to and I do get them fairly quickly. I even get email saying when the purchase is being made so if I was unable to recommend, I can look for the eBook(s) on the site.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I think it's an individual library trend. I frequently request eBooks (OD) at one of my libraries I have access to and I do get them fairly quickly. I even get email saying when the purchase is being made so if I was unable to recommend, I can look for the eBook(s) on the site.

Would be nice if just one of my usual libraries was that responsive. Still I notice I get the standard OD recommendation emails saying my request was purchased, it's on hold, etc (no auto checkout, but maybe these requests were too old)... even though I had to place the request through their email system, not OD.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Would be nice if just one of my usual libraries was that responsive. Still I notice I get the standard OD recommendation emails saying my request was purchased, it's on hold, etc (no auto checkout, but maybe these requests were too old)... even though I had to place the request through their email system, not OD.

What I do is check if the eBook I want is available for recommendation and then I recommend it so if the library gets it, I'll either be able to borrow it or be put on hold and not too long in the line. I then go tot he library's purchase suggestion form and use that to make my recommendation.

[ChoiceD]

Wow, I feel so stupid. I installed the 3M pc app, downloaded a book and looked for half an hour trying to find where it was downloaded. It was right under my nose in my ADE folder all along.

[ChoiceD]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I am positively livid today. I just discovered that my library has unexpectedly and without warning or public input dropped Overdrive in favor of 3M! Ugh!

Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone use 3M that can offer any postive input to make me less depressed? Is there any reason to like 3M over Overdrive?

My library was one of the early adopters of ebooks. I had access to over 70,000 ebooks and one of the largest Overdrive libraries in the US. The library had the audacity to put out a public statement that says they thought very hard about their decision to drop Overdrive. They believe that 3M offers more choices and less wait times. They are very excited about their collection of 3500 books.

Seriously! We went from 70,000 books to 3,500 books. Bye bye Kindle or Sony/Nook borrowing and now you have to read via a tablet app. I can't find anything to borrow because the selection is so poor that anything decent has waits now. All of this is better how?

Did I mention how angry I am?

I feel for you and I sure hope this doesn't happen to me. My library has had Overdrive for quite awhile, but just started offering 3M as well. 3M doesn't have squat. I just wonder if my library has started using it in order to transition from Overdrive to 3M.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by ChoiceD

I feel for you and I sure hope this doesn't happen to me. My library has had Overdrive for quite awhile, but just started offering 3M as well. 3M doesn't have squat. I just wonder if my library has started using it in order to transition from Overdrive to 3M.

Thanks for the post, ChoiceD. Now that it has been 9 months my impressions are more favorable for two reasons.

3M did a big update to their iOS app which now makes it a pleasant reading experience on my iPad Mini and iPhone. The desktop app is still quite poor and outdated.

My library has had many months now to expand their catalog and selection is significantly better. I have found a few books not on my Overdrive accounts at other area libraries that I joined. My library has been very good at promptly ordering books that I recommend within 2 days on average.

I still borrow the majority of my books through my Overdrive accounts at other cities. I just prefer to read on my Kindle Voyage as my top choice over my iPad.