While all North Olympic Peninsula public libraries are closed because of COVID-19 concerns, online resources remain available with expanded access.
Jefferson County public libraries are offering many resources users can tap from their homes.
The Jefferson County Library, based in Port Hadlock, offers free Wifi from its parking lot with no password required.
Classes are provided online as well as temporary library cards for new users, eBooks and eAudiobooks, streaming video, research and learning databases and resources for teens and for younger children.
For more information, visit jclibrary.info.
The Port Townsend Public Library has a variety of digital resources that can be used from home.
Access is with a user’s library card number (back of the card) and the last four digits of the user’s phone number as the PIN or password.
The library offers eBooks and eAudiobooks, eMagazine, streaming movies, research databases and eNewspapers.
For more information, visit ptpubliclibrary.org/library.
North Olympic Library System (NOLS) — which oversees libraries in Port Angeles, Sequim, Forks and Clallam Bay — has expanded services and access to them.
Here are details:
• Ancestry Library Edition — Ancestry Library Edition, a service normally only available from within library branches, can now be accessed from home by anyone with a NOLS library card through at least April 30.
Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource, offers instant access to hundreds of years of history in billions of historical documents and millions of historical photos from all over the world.
• Hoopla — NOLS has temporarily increased the checkout limit on Hoopla to 10 items per month, up from the regular five items per month. Hoopla is an online service that all NOLS patrons can access for free after creating log-in credentials associated with a NOLS library card.
It offers thousands of TV shows, music albums, movies, and audiobooks for instant streaming and download and can be accessed from an internet browser, or an app can be downloaded on phones, tablets, TVs and other streaming devices.
NOLS offers to those with library cards free access to numerous other resources that normally require a subscription fee for an individual to access on their own.
These resources include:
• Chilton Library provides quick online access to repair, maintenance and service information on vehicles.
• ConsumerReports.org enables consumers to make better purchasing decisions on the products they are shopping for.
• HeritageQuest assembles genealogies and local histories on towns and families from all 50 states as well as Canada and the British Isles.
• Lynda.com has over 6,000 online courses with more than 130,000 instructional videos geared toward business, technology and creative fields, with new courses added weekly.
• NewsBank is a comprehensive news product that includes more than 11,000 news sources from around the world. This collection features 143 sources from Washington state alone.
• Novelist helps users find new books based on titles they have read, authors they like, or on topics of interest. It includes categories for adults, teens and children.
• ProQuest features a mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers with wide range of popular academic subjects.
• TeenBookCloud is a streaming service with a digital collection focused on middle school and high school readers. It offers people of all reading levels access to a robust collection of eBooks, enhanced eBooks, audiobooks, graphic novels and more.
• SIRS Discoverer is a multi-disciplinary database for elementary and middle school learners, researchers and educators.
• The Washington Anytime Library offers a wide variety of eBooks and audiobooks to download to your computer or device.
