NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Thanks to generous donations by the Friends of the Library and the Library Foundation, the NRPL is joining the Overdrive Advantage program. Using the same online catalog e-book readers are already familiar with, the library will purchase new titles as well as additional copies of best sellers. These will be available only to NRPL cardholders, significantly reducing wait times for best sellers and make more titles available for immediate download.
In addition, the Westchester Library System (WLS) has announced it has purchased access to both Freading™ and Freegal™ for all member libraries. The Freading™ catalog contains e-books from dozens of smaller publishers, with many titles that will be of special interest to romance and mystery fans. The Freegal™ features a large library of music that can be downloaded–free of charge–to mobile devices. In offering the new Freegal service, the NRPL joins the Library Ideas™’ network of public library websites that offer access to over 3 million songs including Sony Music’s catalog of legendary artists.
“We are pleased to be able to offer expanded access to e-materials,” said Tom Geoffino, NRPL Director. “This would not have been possible without the financial support of the Friends of the NRPL, as well as the WLS initiative.” Geoffino added, “For residents who don’t have a library card – this is an ideal time to acquire one. The library’s free downloads can result in a substantial personal savings.”
For patrons unfamiliar with using e-readers and downloading, the NRPL offers monthly classes that teach individuals how to search through the library’s collection of downloadable books and music; how to check them out and download onto a computer, and how to transfer it to your MP3 player/iPod or burn it to a CD. The next classes will be held on Friday, January 18 and on February 22, from 10:00 ‐ 11:30 am. To register, call 813-3737.
Library Ideas is a global leader in providing digital content to all kinds of libraries, and is located in Fairfax, Virginia. The Company offers music, eBook and language learning solutions to libraries as part of its developing product suite. Library Ideas was named “One of the Top 100 Companies in the Digital Content Industry for 2011-12” by EContent Magazine.
Sony Music Entertainment is a global recorded music company with a current roster that includes a broad array of both local artists and
international superstars. The company boasts a vast catalog that comprises some of the most important recordings in history. It is home to premier record labels representing music from every genre, including Arista Nashville, Beach Street Records, BNA Records, Columbia Nashville, Columbia Records, Day 1, Epic Records, Essential Records, Flicker Records, Kemosabe Records, LaFace Records, Legacy Recordings, MASTERWORKS, Polo Grounds, RCA Records, RCA Nashville, Reunion Records, Roc Nation, Sony Classical, Sony Music Latin, Star Time International, Syco Music, Verity Gospel Music Group, and Volcano Entertainment. Sony Music Entertainment is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.
Freegal Music FAQ
What is Freegal?
Freegal is a downloadable music service from subscribing libraries. All you need is your library card number and your PIN. Freegal offers access to about 3 million songs, including Sony Music’s catalog of legendary artists. In total the collection is comprised of music from over 10,000 labels with music that originates in over 60 countries. There is no software to download, and there are no digital rights management (DRM) restrictions. Access to Freegal is limited to patrons of subscribing libraries.
How much music is on Freegal Music’s website?
It changes daily. But it’s safe to say that there are thousands of artists, tens of thousands of albums, and millions of songs. The Freegal Music website has hundreds of genres of music and is rich in many of them. The content is based upon agreements with over 10,000 music labels, including the labels of Sony Music Entertainment.
How does Freegal Music work?
A download usage counter is located in the upper right corner of freegalmusic.com displaying your weekly allotment. For instance, 1/3 means that you have a weekly limit of 3 downloads, and you have used 1 of those downloads. The download counter resets each week at
Monday 12:01 AM (Eastern Time, USA).
The site is set up to browse or search for your favorite music or artist. You can use the navigation at the top of the page to browse by keyword, artist, or album; or you can simply use our advanced search page. Freegal Music also offers a collection of Top Download lists on the homepage where users can browse a variety of music selections.
Are the songs really free?
Freegal Music and the music you download are free in the sense that most things in your library are free to you as a patron of the library. New Rochelle Public Library’s service is underwritten by the Westchester Library System.
Why are there limits on the amount of downloads I can make? What does “limit exceeded” mean?
The limit is set so that a maximum number of patrons may have equal access to the songs in the Freegal Music Service. The “Limit Exceeded” appears when you have used all of their downloads for the week.
How do I transfer songs via iTunes?
Freegal Music has its own iOS Application which can be downloaded from the Apple iTunes App Store. Some users may still wish to download songs to their PC and sync to their mobile device, as they will have the advantage of having a copy of their music in their computer’s memory.
Apple, the manufacturer of the iPhone and the iPad, has created their devices without the ability to download music directly, unless going through the iTunes Store or using an approved application. To get music on the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, we recommend the following procedure:
Download Freegal files to your computer desktop by doing the following:
1. Press “Download Now”
2. Press “Save”.
3. Direct download to desktop.
Next import the file into iTunes, and the following is the easiest way:
Open iTunes then drag the file from the desktop to the open application. The next time you sync your device the Freegal file will be both on their “home base” computer and their mobile device.
Freegal Mobile Apps are available!
The Freegal Music Service has recently launched free mobile apps, and they are currently available in the Apple App Store and the Android Marketplace, a.k.a. Google Play.
How do I get the Freegal Mobile Application?
If you have an Apple device (iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch), you will be able to download the Freegal App by doing a search for “Freegal Music” in the Apple iTunes App Store.
If you have an Android phone or tablet, you will be able to search for “Freegal Music” in the Google Play store. As of this writing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble have not made the apps available in their stores.
What is the functionality of the Freegal App?
The Freegal App is designed to find libraries that have the Freegal Music Service, to store your login information, to search and browse the Freegal Music collection of your library, and to download, store and play your Freegal MP3 files.
Currently, the Freegal Music App is not allowed to export files to iTunes or any other software.
As a Freegal Music user, you can download a song again for the purpose of having a copy in your iTunes and in the Freegal Music App. You can do that within 2 weeks of your original download by accessing your library’s Freegal site via a computer, and accessing the “recent downloads” functionality on the navigation bar of the home page (HINT: you may need to log out of the Freegal Application to do this. You log out by going to “Settings” within the Freegal App, and then selecting “Logout”).
More FAQ may be accessed by logging into Freegal from the New Rochelle Public Library website: www.nrpl.org.
