Have you met Libby?

Have you met Libby yet? Earlier this year one of our key providers RBdigital moved to a new company called Overdrive. Overdrive has a great app called Libby where you can access a range of content, or, if you have a kindle fire you can access their Overdrive app.

Through Libby you can access:

• eBooks
• eAudiobooks,

• Magazines,

• Universal Class (Training Courses)

• The Great Courses (Training Courses)

• Music concerts by Qello

Read on to find out more: 

Books!

You can now Borrow eBooks and eAudiobooks, to read on your phone or tablet using the Libby app by OverDrive. Libby is the one-tap reading app where you can borrow eBooks and digital audiobooks for free. You can stream books with Wi-Fi or mobile data, or download them for offline use and read anytime. 

Do you remember the days when listening to an audio book in the car involved choosing the right disk for you car journey? or the frustration of being stuck in traffic only for your CD to finish right at that really big cliffhanger? With Libby you can listen in the car on Apple car Play and Android Auto!

Magazines

Libby has hundreds of magazines to choose from. Whether your interest is baking or diet, crafting or exercise, fashion or gossip there will be something to catch your eye. Once on the app just scroll down until you see the magazine section, download the magazine of your choice and then if you allow notifications the app will let you know when the magazine is due to return. 

Extras

Once you have downloaded your books scroll down the screen to find the extras page – here you will find access to thousands of music concerts and training courses from Universal Class and The Great Courses. Yes! All this available free with your library course. 

Concerts by Qello

With Libby you can stream the world's largest collection of on-demand full-length music performances, concert films, and music documentaries. Qello has been a great option for people who have missed their live music concerts over the past 18 months. Be sure to give it a try and look for your favourite artists and headline acts!

- 1000s of concert films and documentaries.

- new concerts added every week.

- streamed live concerts with major partners.

- available on all your streaming devices.

Universal Class 

Is there something you have always wanted to learn but not had the time, can’t find the right course, want a taster before you commit to a bigger programme? Universal class is a brilliant learning resources for a huge range of subjects. Did you know you can access all of this free with your library card? just log in via Libby or Overdrive and you can access: 

- 500+ online courses on just about anything ranging from cake decorating to accounting & bookkeeping

- Accredited CEUs for professional development.

- Self-paced, easy-to-use, 24/7 access – learn anything, anytime and anywhere.

- assessments for the serious student or a view only version for the casual learner.

- Supported languages: English.

The Great Courses 

Yes even more training and learning opportunities for you! This collection includes more than 250 courses, covering a broad range of subjects, such as science, mathematics, philosophy, history, literature, fine arts and music, travel, business, and personal development.

- Over 250 unique courses to capture your curiosity or help you to improve in areas you are passionate about.

- 3,000+ hours of carefully curated and commercial-free, entertaining and engaging content.

- Courses taught by brilliant, award-winning, and trusted experts in their fields.

- Twelve categories for all types of patrons with new content monthly.

- Guidebooks for each course to supplement course material.

Key points 

Remember, Libby is free with your Library card and easy to get started. Download the app and Learn more

Alternatively, Kindle Fire users can access Overdrive here

Got questions about Libby? Get your common, or not-so-common questions answered or get help with specific features to make the most of your in-app experience by visiting the Libby help section.

Your Local History Centre

 

Local History Centre:

The Local History Service of East Lothian Libraries is your essential and useful source of providing information and help with research into the history of the county and its people. Located in the John Gray Centre, Haddington, the Service provides many opportunities for research. The public can utilise resources to find out about family history, house or building history, community matters, and various other topics on the history of East Lothian.

The family history research area and Reading Room is a comfortable and spacious study space, with free Wi-Fi. Visitors can get access to Old Parish Registers, Censuses, Monumental Inscriptions, Valuation Rolls, historic newspapers and local studies reference books. The Local History Service also works closely with the Archive Service and the Museum Service so that the public can gain access to historical records of the county such as old manuscripts, maps and plans, and a large photograph collection, as well as relevant objects and paintings.

Our historic county newspaper collection on microfilm comprises the Haddingtonshire Courier (now East Lothian Courier), the Musselburgh News and Portobello Advertiser, East Lothian News, the Haddingtonshire Advertiser, and a few other short-lived local newspapers.

We also hold a vast amount of other resources to help you dig deeper into your East Lothian family history:

·                 Old Parish Registers of East Lothian baptisms, marriages and deaths on microfilm.

·                 East Lothian census returns 1841-1901 on microfilm.

·                 Microfiche indexes to East Lothian baptisms and marriages.

·                 Microfiche indexes to International Genealogical Index 1992 edition for Scotland arranged by counties.

·                 Valuation rolls for East Lothian from 1855 onwards on microfilm and microfiche.

·                 Monumental inscription booklets and burial/mortcloth registers for East Lothian graveyards

·                 Annual county directories/registers

You can consult the above items in the Local History Library or request for information via email with as many details as possible.

 

John Gray Centre Film Appreciation Club

If you enjoy watching and discussing all kinds of films, why not join our vibrant film appreciation group. It is a safe and relaxing space to chat about or even just to listen to a variety of opinions about a range of films and genres.

The Club has been on its annual summer hiatus but will be resuming in autumn 2021. During lockdown Our Club has been holding informal video chats over Google Meet. Our online meetings have been occurring bi-weekly, on Thursday evenings between 6.30 to 7.30 pm.

For easy access, we have been discussing selected films available on BBC iPlayer, All4 (Channel 4) player, and Netflix. Our group members even recommend TV shows and books! Our meetings and film choices are advertised on the John Gray Centre website What’s On page, as well as on our social media platforms. You can also check out our SCREENING ARCHIVE online

To find out how to join our FREE-OF-CHARGE online video chat, please do get in touch via email

We are looking into when and how the physical meet-up screenings and discussions at the John Gray can resume and will let you know as soon as possible.

 

Haddingtonshire Histories Podcast:

The Local History Centre of East Lothian Libraries produces a heritage and history podcast called Haddingtonshire Histories which features conversations on a variety of East Lothian history topics. Expert guests include Museum officers, Archivists, and Archaeologists in East Lothian Council’s heritage services as well as local historians and researchers.

Haddingtonshire Histories aims to keep things as light and cheerful as possible and hopes that listeners will enjoy finding out a little more about East Lothian’s rich past.

To date Haddingtonshire Histories has published four episodes.

Episode 1: ‘Who Is John Gray?’ about the founding father of Scotland’s public libraries and the namesake of the John Gray Centre itself

Episode 2: ‘The Inns and Oots of Dunbar’ about the historical inns and ale-houses in Dunbar

Episode 3: ‘Family History – Fascinating Finds’ features an interesting chat between the host and former East Lothian Local History Officers reminiscing about some of the more fascinating cases and enquiries they have dealt with.

Episode 4: ‘Night at the Museum – Claire’s Favourites’ features Museums Collection Officer Dr Claire Pannell highlighting some of her favourite items in the Museum store and speaks about how items are stored and looked after.

Episode 5: ‘Powerful Prestongrange’ highlights the history behind some of the items/objects displayed at the Prestongrange Museum.

Coming soon: Witches of East Lothian.

You can listen to Haddingtonshire Histories on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts or on Anchor FM

Library Picnic Bake Off

  

We had such a great response to our Library Bake off at Christmas so we thought we would do the same again for this summer’s big food event - the summer picnic! The format is the same, five of the team chose their favourite recipes from our vast collection of foodie publications and each provides photos of the outcome and their verdict on the recipe. 

Donna made Thomasina Miers Chorizo and Parsley Scotch Eggs from the Guardian’s Feast supplement available on Pressreader. This recipe caught Donna’s eye because of happy memories of picnics with her family as a child.  She said “We would spend the night before making scotch eggs, chicken drumsticks, quiche and salads and then pack it all in the boot of the car and drive to a beach in Fife or Tayside and spend the day eating and playing rounder’s. I boiled the eggs, mixed the sausage meat, chorizo, parmesan, parsley and thyme together, then  moulded the meat mixture around the boiled eggs and fried until brown and crispy on the outside. Simple recipe, simple to make, easy to follow and delicious – Despite the appearance!” We think they look fab! 

2   Nicky chose to use the Libby app and found Prima Summer cooking magazine. The magazine is packed full of recipes for family gatherings, picnics and summer baking.  Nicky made the courgette Tortilla, she said “I’m not the best cook but the recipe was easy to follow. I changed the cooking method slightly and transferred the mixture to a baking tin to cook in the oven as I was concerned about it burning on the bottom. There were also some easy craft makes for summer which are quite cute and I might go back to.” 

3.   Rachel made George Pickard's cheese & ham muffins from a recipe book available at the Library Service called “Leon brownies, bars & muffins: naturally fast recipes” written by Henry Dimbleby of the famed Leon chain for restaurants and cafes. These cheesy muffins would make a great picnic or after school/work snack and they couldn’t be easier to make. Just add cheese and ham to a basic muffin mix. The recipe was logical and clear to follow and the smell from the oven while they were baking was amazing. Rachel said she was “really pleased with the end result and are fabulous with just a spread of butter!”

 

 

4.  Katie baked the fantastic ginger bread house at Christmas time so we were excited to see what she would make for picnic bake off! She chose lemon & ginger cheesecake bites from The Picnic Book by Ali Ray, she said “It's just as well these little cheesecakes are bite-sized, super sweet and indulgent they're the perfect addition to a summer picnic. The recipe was really easy to follow, no tricky technical skills required just a bit of elbow grease. I'd be tempted to experiment with other fruit instead of blueberries but either way it's a very aesthetically pleasing low effort dessert.” We can hardly tell which cheesecakes are Katie’s and which are from the book!

 

Natasha made Mocktails, and yes we know it is bending the rules slightly but it was worth it they were so delicious! She made the English Summer Punch from ‘Summer Drinks: over 75 refreshing recipes to enjoy in the sunshine’ (no author). Natasha said “I really liked this recipe, the instructions were short and simple and the end result was very successful (albeit with bright purple fingers after stoning so many cherries!). Having also tried some of the cocktails from the book I can confirm they too are delicious.”