Ask a Librarian - 2010 | Gwinnett County Public Library

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December 22, 2010

How many items has Gwinnett County Public Library checked out so far this century?

Since January 1, 2000, we've checked out 70,055,523 items in all formats. Some of those were videos, some of those were recorded books, some of those were electronic books, and a lot of them were regular books. Just to give a good idea of how many items that is, if they were all books 1 inch thick, they'd make a stack 1,100 miles high!

September 27, 2010

I’m interested in buying an eBook Reader; does GCPL have eBooks I can check out?

Yes! GCPL has a growing collection of eBooks in fiction and nonfiction that can be checked out by customers, read on their computers, and transferred to a compatible device! New eBooks are added on a regular basis and you can see the most recent additions by visiting our New & Featured Titles page and clicking on the link for New Downloadable eBooks.

GCPL partners with OverDrive, Inc.to be able to provide downloadable eBooks to our customers. Currently, eBooks are available for check out and download in Adobe PDF and ePUB formats, formats which are compatible with a number of eBook Readers. GCPL’s collection of Adobe eBooks have been verified as compatible with the Barnes & Noble nook, the Sony Reader line of eBook readers, and the Kobo Reader.

Apple iDevices, such as the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, are now compatible with our collection of OverDrive eBooks. Customers with iPhones, iPod Touch (iOS 4.0 and higher) and Android devices can now use the OverDrive Media Console Mobile app to directly download OverDrive MP3 audiobooks and OverDrive ePUB eBooks from our OverDrive site. iDevice users may also wish to use the Bluefire Reader app to read our collection of Adobe PDF and ePUB eBooks. The Bluefire site features a simple step-by-step set of instructions for downloading library eBooks. *GCPL does not provide technical support for the Bluefire Reader app.

Our eBooks use a software called Adobe Digital Editions for reading and transferring. Adobe Digital Editions is available as a free download from our OverDrive site and allows you to check out, read, transfer, and return eBooks from our OverDrive collection. For more information on this free software and how it works, please visit http://digitalbooks.gwinnettpl.org/Help-Reader-ADE.htm

The Amazon Kindle does not currently support eBooks protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM) such as those in our OverDrive collection. DRM is a protection placed on an eBook, by the publisher, to ensure a 1 copy, 1 user model of lending. With exciting changes sure to come in the world of eBooks, we encourage customers to “Stay Tuned” as we strive to deliver as many innovative and emerging services to our customers as possible.

April 19, 2010

Whenever I visit the public library here in Gwinnett, it seems very busy. How do Gwinnett libraries compare to other libraries? Are Gwinnett libraries the busiest?

According to A Current Look at Georgia's Public Libraries and GPLS, the Gwinnett County Public Library leads the state in a number of measures of library activity.

Highest circulation in state with 7,526,750 check outs in FY 2009
Leads the state in circulation per capita, circulating 9 items per Gwinnettian.
With 9% of Georgia's population, Gwinnett County accounted for 16% of the state's library circulation, and 10% of the state's library visits.

Clearly, Gwinnettians are readers who use their libraries!

Additional information:
Georgia Public Library Service website
Gwinnett County Public Library Check Us Out FY2009

March 10, 2010

It feels like it has rained more than usual this past year. Is Georgia still in a drought? Do we need to keep conserving water?

According to the Rainfall Scorecard from the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, 2009 was the wettest year for Atlanta in at least 15 years, with a total 69.43 inches of rain. Compare that to 2007, where the total rainfall was 31.85 inches!

While the drought is over, Gwinnett County is still urging residents and businesses to conserve water:

Georgia EPD Director Carol Couch declared on June 10, 2009, that the state of Georgia has returned to a non-drought condition. According to the state's rules, outdoor water use is allowed on the even-odd schedule with no restrictions as to hours of use. This means that homeowners with even-numbered addresses can water on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday and those with odd-numbered addresses can water on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Gwinnett County will follow the state's rule.

Additional information:

Gwinnett County Drought Information

Gwinnett County Water Resources

Conserve Water Georgia

Georgia's State Water Plan

February 18, 2010

Did more Gwinnett residents get the H1N1 flu or recall notices from Toyota?

The Georgia Department of Health tracks hospitalizations and deaths for the entire state for H1N1. From April 2009 to February 2010 there have been 824 people hospitalized and a total of 49 deaths in Georgia attributed to confirmed cases of H1N1. Unfortunately, the Health Department does not provide numbers by county. It is unknown how many Gwinnett residents had unconfirmed cases of H1N1 during this time.

As of February 17, approximately 10,000 vehicles in Gwinnett were estimated to be affected by Toyota's recent recalls. This information is according to the two Toyota dealers in Gwinnett County: Mall of Georgia Toyota in Buford and Atlanta Toyota in Duluth. According to the Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner, in 2009 there were 636,870 active tag registrations in Gwinnett County.

More information on the Toyota recall.
More information on H1N1.