Director

Karim Khan

Director of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library

Welcome to Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library. The Library is a “place” for all people in Floyd and Montgomery Counties to build skills and knowledge to enhance their lives. Reading, listening, and watching, along with interacting in the library’s many programs, events, and self-directed activities, are great ways to become informed, gain inspiration, empower yourself with new knowledge and skills, and to connect with the community and world.

So you might ask, why did I put “place” in quotes? You know the library, and its four branches in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Floyd, and Shawsville. Those are places, no quotes about it. But the library is also a virtual place, reaching patrons wherever they are. Over 10,000 library members accessed eBooks, eAudiobooks, eMagazines, or downloadable movies and TV shows in the past year alone, representing about a third of all our circulation. For our digital enthusiasts, their library “place” exists on their Kindles, phones, or computers, traveling with them wherever they go.

eAudiobook is a popular format with patrons of all ages. Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library (MFRL) has three downloadable audio vendors that make available best-sellers, classics, children’s and teen material and much more. While all three eAudio partners have web sites, most of you are using the Libby, Hoopla, or Blackstone Unlimited apps to reach the books.

Libby: Libby is your best source for popular, current titles in downloadable audio. We own over 70,000 copies total in Libby, including 27,000 eAudiobooks. Every title in MFRL’s Libby collection has been selected either by MFRL staff or by the staff of our partners in Southwest Virginia Library Consortium. When we purchase a Libby eAudiobook, what we are actually purchasing is a license to make the title available through the library. Libby has a variety of license terms – some last forever, some just for a year before we have to re-purchase. While we try and keep holds lists as short as possible, eAudio from Libby is expensive – a 2 year license for the library will usually cost 4-6 times the direct-to-consumer retail cost.

Hoopla: For a different experience, try Hoopla, which offers an extensive, on-demand library of 1.7 million titles in all formats, with no waitlists. Unlike Libby, Really should say “Hoopla operates on a pay-per-checkout model, allowing unlimited access to its collection, with only a low per-checkout fee charged to the library. While Hoopla may not have the latest best-sellers, it provides patrons with instant access to a very large collection of eAudiobooks and more. Note that we do cap Hoopla checkouts at five per cardholder each month to manage our budget and keep the service sustainable.

Blackstone Unlimited: Our latest addition, Blackstone Unlimited, offers a curated collection of around 7,000 always-available eAudiobooks, each expertly narrated by human professionals. As a leading audiobook publisher since 1987, Blackstone brings high-quality narration and thoughtful curation. With MFRL paying only a flat annual fee, Blackstone Unlimited offers MFRL a good value, and allows unlimited checkouts per month (though only 10 at time).

With downloadables making up a third of our total checkouts, we’re committed to investing in leading services like Libby, Hoopla, and Blackstone Unlimited to meet your needs. Audiobooks have evolved, from LP’s to cassette tapes to CD’s, and now to digital formats—but their popularity endures. The library plans to keep providing you with accessible, convenient options for audiobook enjoyment.

We welcome your comments, suggestions and ideas. If I can be of assistance to you, please call me at 540-382-6969 ext. 216 or email me at kkhan@mfrl.org.