Snowed in without much entertainment?
Even without braving the elements, Putnam County Library cardholders can still access more than 66,000 books - all for free.
The library offers a service called OverDrive, with which users can check out and download e-books to their tablets, without ever having to step foot in a library.
In an effort to teach cardholders about the benefits of the system, the library recently held an "Appy Hour," where staff taught patrons how to access the digital collection and check out e-books, audiobooks and more.
Megan Tarbett, the library's director, said she hopes to offer a class like this once every few months.
"January was a good time because people get new devices at Christmas," Tarbett said. "Sometimes they don't know about all the digital things the library has because they expect paper books."
By having a library card through Putnam County Library, users have access to thousands of e-books, audiobooks and movies through WV Reads. Putnam County and Cabell County have joined together to offer readers an even larger digital selection of books.
Elizabeth Fraser, head of reference services at the Kanawha County Library, said the Kanawha libraries offer a similar service called a "Technology Petting Zoo," but they stopped offering it frequently.
Fraser said patrons can bring in their devices for one-on-one help with a staff member.
"Usually what we do is ask that you call. Sometimes people do just walk in and we help, but we can spend more time one-on-one with people if they call," Fraser said.
Tarbett said she doesn't see e-books replacing the library's paper book collection, but she said having both collections allows the library to offer more resources in a way that's convenient to all readers.
"Readers are readers. People who read physical books will also read e-books. Most of it is convenience of what you're doing. If you're traveling and you have your iPad, you've got hundreds and hundreds of books you can access at any time. You don't have to take a bag full of paper books."
Tarbett said she hopes to teach more people about the digital book collection so patrons will be able to confidently check out e-books in addition to checking out paper books.
"Both are very strong parts of what we do here. Digital books you can check out at anytime, even when our physical library is closed," Tarbett said. "Our digital library is open 24/7. That's an exciting thing - to serve our patrons whenever and wherever."
Gail Samson, of Teays Valley, said she attended the session on Jan. 14 to refresh her memory on how to use the library's digital services.
"I had a Kindle before, and I used some of the books to borrow from the library before on it," Samson said. "Now that I'm not working and I have more time, I wanted to see what they had to offer as far as the education of the apps."
Samson said she thought the session was helpful and looks forward to taking advantage of the library's digital services.
She said it's especially handy when she is traveling with her family, since she can check out books on her tablet instead of carrying around a bag of books.
Lisa Fawcett, of Hurricane, said she had no idea how the digital system worked before attending Appy Hour.
"I usually buy the books off Amazon to get them onto my Kindle," Fawcett said. "When I saw this in the paper I thought, I need to start going there and start taking advantage of getting them for free."
Fawcett is in a book club that meets once a month. She hopes to save money by downloading the books from the library.
"I've seen a lot of the books we read might be available," Fawcett said. "I was realizing I was spending 10 to 12 dollars a month on a book, so this way maybe I will be able to find it on here. It will help me with my book club budget."
She was also impressed with the selection of audio books the library offers.
"Sometimes when I'm driving and alone I like to listen [to audio books]," Fawcett said. "Instead of getting the CDs now and changing them out when I'm driving, I can just listen to something that way."
For more information on the services Putnam County Library offers, visit http://putnam.lib.wv.us.
Reach Laura Haight at laura.haight@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow @laurahaight_ on Twitter.