Introducing Notify Me on the Libby App

Do you use our Libby app or website? On Tuesday 21 March, Libby is introducing a new service to its app and website, called Notify me — read below to find out more!

How does it work?

Through Notify Me you’ll be able to find and tag eBook and eAudiobook titles not already in our Libby collection (but available for us to purchase), notifying the library of your interest if the title is acquired. If the title is then acquired by the library, you will receive a notification that the title is available.

In Libby, there are two ways to discover titles that are not yet in our digital collection:

  1. If you search for a title, author, or series and it returns no results, Libby will automatically expand into a “deep search” to display relevant titles that are not yet in our collection
  2. If you run a search that returns fewer than 100 results, you can tap the filter button to manually enable “deep search”
Click the filter button Toggle on Deep search

From the expanded search, you will see relevant results with a Notify Me option. Tap Notify Me to tag titles and be notified if they are added to our library’s digital collection in the future:

An example of Notify Me and its icon

How can I find out more?

Need more information? You can learn more about Notify Me through the Libby Help site below:

Notify Me — Libby Help

Update on Recommend to Library through the OverDrive app

Some library members may already be using a similar service called Recommend to Library that is available through our OverDrive app and website. (See our previous blog post for more information on the phrasing out and transition from the OverDrive app to Libby.)

Recommend to Library will be discontinued at the same time as the OverDrive app on 1 May 2023. We advise any customers still using Recommend to Library to begin using Notify Me from the 21st of March.

We will continue to do our best to support you in moving from OverDrive to Libby throughout this time period. If you have any issues with either app or would like any further information about these changes, please get in touch below:

Email us – enquiries@wcl.govt.nz

Within the Mystery of WandaVision

After a lengthy hiatus, the Marvel Universe of films have restarted on Disney Plus with the unexpected meta-fictional world of WandaVision. Continuing on from the endgames of the last Avengers film, WandaVision eschews the usual Marvel film template with interlocking levels of mystery and deeply conflicted characters all wrapped up within a darkly satirical sitcom parody running across the decades.

Below are a selection of comics, films, TV series and books that directly influenced WandaVision’s complex world of mischievous invention, enigma and heartbreak. From comics that helped drive plot in the TV series to TV sitcoms that influence each episode’s comedy, look and feel, to the Marvel films themselves, consider this a sideways look into the many genius aspects of WandaVision

Vision : the complete collection / King, Tom
“He was created to kill the Avengers but he turned against his “father.” He found a home among Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and love in the arms of the Scarlet Witch. It didn’t end well. Now, the Vision just wants an ordinary life with a wife and two children, a home in the suburbs, perhaps even a dog. But it won’t end any better. Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta confound expectations in their heart-breaking, gut-wrenching, breath-taking magnum opus collected in all its Eisner Award-winning glory.” (Catalogue)

House of M / Bendis, Brian Michael
“The Marvel event of the decade is here! The Avengers and the X-Men are faced with a common foe that becomes their greatest threat: Wanda Maximoff! The Scarlet Witch is out of control, and the fate of the entire world is in her hands. Will Magneto help his daughter or use her powers to his own benefit? Starring the Astonishing X-Men and the New Avengers! You know how sometimes you hear the phrase: ‘and nothing will ever be the same again?’ Well, this time believe it, buster! Nothing will ever be the same again! Collects House of M #1-8, and Pulse House of M Special Edition Newspaper.” (Catalogue)

Scarlet Witch [1] : witches’ road / Robinson, James Dale
“Wanda Maximoff ‘s magical mystery tour continues on the streets of Paris; she will find the broken-hearted hero Le Peregrine. Can Wanda mend his broken wings and help him soar again? She’ll risk life and limb to try; next stop, Hong Kong, where an ancient warlock named the Dark Tongi has taken a powerful hold. Wanda must seek the help of a young witch, known as the Wu – but she has her own battle to fight. The former Avenger’s personal journey gets reflective as she explores her early memories and attempts to reconcile the sins of her past, but it’s time for a family reunion with her twin brother Pietro…but what happens when the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are on opposing sides? ” (Catalogue)

Overdrive cover Avengers: Disassembled, Brian Michael Bendis (ebook)
Collects Avengers (1998) #500-503. It begins with the return of a team member thought dead and by the time it’s over, everything you know about the Avengers will have changed! It’s the worst day in team history, as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes try to deal with the shocking tragedy around them. Who is behind this, and why? Will it tear the team apart? Who will fall at the hands of the Avengers’ greatest enemy? Guest-starring every Avenger…ever! (Overdrive description)

Pleasantville
“Two 1990’s teenagers find themselves in a 1950’s sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that complacent world.” (Catalogue)

 

 

The twilight zone : the original series. Season one. “There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area we call… The Twilight Zone.” (Catalogue)

 

Gilmore girls. The complete first season
“Lorelai and Rory are a mother and daughter who are sharing life’s ups and downs in a small town in Connecticut. This heartfelt, humorous drama appeals to young and old alike with it’s blend of traditional family issues and hip attitude.” (Catalogue)

 

 

Modern family. The complete first season
“Modern Family takes a refreshing and funny view of what it means to raise a family in this hectic day and age. Multicultural relationships, adoption, and same-sex marriage are just a few of the timely issues faced by the show’s three wildly diverse broods. No matter the size or shape, family always comes first in this hilariously ‘modern’ look at life, love, and laughter.” (Catalogue)

 

The office [US]. Season one
“Earnest but clueless regional manager Michael Scott, the world’s worst manager, provides hilarious examples of bad management practice at the local Dunder Mifflin Paper Company Inc. office.” (Catalogue)

 

 

Avengers. Endgame
“The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured their ranks compels the remaining to take one final stand in the grand conclusion to twenty-two films.” (Catalogue)

 

 

Captain America : civil war
“After another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps, one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark₂s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.” (Catalogue)

Audible audiobooks through BorrowBox

Did you know that Audible audiobooks are available to library users through Wellington City Libraries’ eLibrary app BorrowBox?

Download the BorrowBox app, choose Wellington City Libraries as your preferred library, enter your card number and pin — and you have access to over 400 Audible original audiobook titles!

Audible are ‘the largest producer and provider of spoken word entertainment, with genre-bending audible originals, and binge-worthy audiobooks’, and having sampled many of their meticulously recorded, carefully constructed audio productions, we think they do a wonderful job!

To set you on your way, here are 7 favourite Audible original titles available now through our BorrowBox service. Listen well!

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark /Gillian Flynn

For more than 10 years, a mysterious and violent predator committed 50 sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated 10 sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.

Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website True Crime Diary, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called the Golden State Killer. Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark – the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death – offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth.

(Adapted from BorrowBox Description)

The Rosie result / Graeme Simsion

Hilarious and thought-provoking, with a brilliant cast of characters, The Rosie Result is the triumphant final instalment of the internationally best-selling series that began with The Rosie Project.
Until 12 years ago, geneticist Don Tillman had never had a second date. Then he developed The Wife Project and met Rosie, ‘the world’s most incompatible woman’. Now, having survived 4,380 days of marriage, Don’s life-contentment graph, recently at its highest point, is curving downwards.

Rosie has just returned to work and is struggling with an obnoxious coworker. Don, meanwhile, is in hot water after his latest lecture goes viral. But their real worry is their son, Hudson, who is having trouble at school: his teachers say he isn’t fitting in with the other kids.
For Don, learning to be a good parent as well as a good partner will require the help of friends old and new. It will mean letting Hudson make his way in the world and grappling with difficult truths about his own identity. It will also mean opening a cocktail bar.

(Adapted from BorrowBox Description)

The Body / Bill Bryson

Bryson turns his attention inwards to explore the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself. Full of extraordinary facts and astonishing stories The Body: A Guide for Occupants is a brilliant, often very funny attempt to understand the miracle of our physical and neurological make up.

A wonderful successor to A Short History of Nearly Everything, this book will have you marvelling at the form you occupy, and celebrating the genius of your existence, time and time again.

(Adapted from BorrowBox Description)

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle / Stuart Turton

Somebody’s going to be murdered at the ball tonight. It won’t appear to be a murder and so the murderer won’t be caught. Rectify that injustice and I’ll show you the way out.
It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy.

As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed. But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden – one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party – can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot.
The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath …

(Adapted from BorrowBox Description)

Dishonesty is the Second-Best Policy / David Mitchell

But if you’re determined to give it a go, you might enjoy this eclectic collection (or eclection) of David Mitchell’s attempts to make light of all that darkness. Scampi, politics, the Olympics, terrorism, exercise, rude street names, inheritance tax, salad cream, proportional representation and farts are all touched upon by Mitchell’s unremitting laser of chit-chat, as he negotiates a path between the commercialisation of Christmas and the true spirit of Halloween.

Listen to this book and slightly change your life!

(Adapted from BorrowBox Description)

A Gentleman in Moscow / Amor Towles

On 21 June 1922, Count Alexander Rostov – recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt – is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol.
Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. But instead of his usual suite, he must now live in an attic room while Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval.
Can a life without luxury be the richest of all?

(Adapted from BorrowBox Description)

Norse Mythology / Neil Gaiman

The great Norse myths, which have inspired so much of modern fiction, are dazzlingly retold by Neil Gaiman. Tales of dwarfs and frost giants, of treasure and magic, and of Asgard, home to the gods: Odin the all-father, highest and oldest of the Aesir; his mighty son Thor, whose hammer Mjollnir makes the mountain giants tremble; Loki, wily and handsome, reliably unreliable in his lusts; and Freya, more beautiful than the sun or the moon, who spurns those who seek to control her.
From the dawn of the world to the twilight of the gods, this is a thrilling, vivid retelling of the Norse myths from the award-winning, bestselling Neil Gaiman.

(Adapted from BorrowBox Description)

Your Lucky (eBook) Day is here!

Skip the waiting line and borrow the most popular eBooks and audiobooks with our Lucky Day eBook and eAudiobook titles!

Overdrive Lucky Day Promotional Image - It's your Lucky Day

These titles can be found, borrowed and read on a first-come, first-served basis through Libby — the award-winning, one-tap reading app from OverDrive (read more about getting started with Libby). The program is meant to be a bit like the serendipity of picking up popular titles off the shelf in a library.

Browse our Lucky Day Collection

The easiest way to find available titles for both our adult and kids Lucky Day collections is to scan the homepage of either Libby or OverDrive for our special Lucky Day curated lists.

Because our Lucky Day titles turn over so quickly, it’s difficult to provide direct links to Lucky Day copies  (only the ones currently available will show), but examples of recent titles are best-selling fiction eBooks like Fair Warning by Michael Connelly, The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Recent New Zealand non-fiction titles include Maori Made Easy by Scotty Morrison, Impossible: My Story by Stan Walker and Bella: My Life in Food by Anabel Langbein.

You can browse what’s available right now on our Lucky Day shelf. The list of titles will change as books are returned to the collection, so check back often.

Lucky Day titles are a bit different to regular lending copies. They are:

  • Available for 14 days (as opposed to 21 days)
  • Not able to be reserved
  • Not able to be renewed

For even more Lucky Day titles, try our Kids Lucky Day collections, full of the most popular kids authors and titles like Harry Potter, Diary of  a Wimpy Kid and David Walliams stories, sure to make you smile.

For more information on our Kids Lucky Day collections, read this excellent post from our Kids blog by our Children’s coordinator, Stephen!

 

 

 

Book Club eBooks now ready to read on Libby

I once facilitated a book group every month on a Friday afternoon at the wonderfully diverse Newtown library involving 8 book-loving, library users. We would discuss the ideas, plots, characters, sense of place and theme of each book like this would be our last, usually over coffee, tea and scones.

Now, that sense of communal engagement can continue on a larger scale with our first collection of always available digital Book Club titles through the eBook and audio-book reading app Libby.

Libby Book Club

We have hundreds of titles to choose from across adult fiction, Aotearoa, nonfiction, kids and teen audiences for discovery by book groups, for community reads, and fiery or friendly discussion. Expect thought-provoking reads across genres like mystery, science fiction, classic literature, poetry and award-winning fiction but also best-selling popular biographies, science and business nonfiction.

Here’s a quick selectors pick of 10 of some of the always available titles ready to read now:

  1. The Luminaries by Eleanor Cotton
  2. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
  3. The Bitterroots by C J Box
  4. When They Call You a Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors
  5. Hera Lindsay Bird by Hera Lindsay Bird
  6. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty
  7. Te Koparapara: An Introduction the the Maori World 
  8. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
  9. Monster series by Michael Grant
  10. Mophead by Selina Tusitala Marsh

For even more options try our carefully chosen selection of over 370 classic novels by Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens – an entire pantheon of always available literary classics.

For more information on how to get started with the Libby app, go to our eLibrary page or contact us here for further helpful assistance.

Libby app is now available in 10 languages

It’s now possible to enjoy the award-winning eBook and audiobook app Libby with the following languages:

• Spanish                                     • Japanese                     • Swedish
• Simplified Chinese                 • Russian                       • Italian
• Traditional Chinese               • French                         • German

If you already use one of the languages above with your device, Libby will automatically browse, search and display account information in that language now. By changing the default language on your device within settings, you can then view Libby in your newly chosen language.

Account in Simplified Chinese
Browsing in Italian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also access Wellington City Libraries Libby website  with the language options above if you are already using your preferred language, or change to another language within your browser’s settings to access a new one.

At the same time, improvements have been made to Libby’s controls, playback speed and sleep timer within the eBook reader and audiobook player. Watch a brief tutorial on these new updates here.

Please contact our eLibrary team for any help here

Important note: To support this upgrade and enable future feature development in the app, Libby’s minimum Android operating system requirement will change from version 4.4+ (KitKat, released in 2013) to version 5.0+ (Lollipop, released in 2014). The iOS minimum requirement for Apple devices (iPhones and iPads) will remain unchanged at 9.0+.