Two Webinars To Start Your Week [and a Teaser for a Third]

I am back from 5 days away at StokerCon. I will have a full update on the horror blog of what I learned at the conference including the full list of Bram Stoker Award winners, later today. [ed note: I will insert link here when I am done].

However, while I catch up on paperwork and emails I am listening to the archives of 2 free webinars today, so I figured I would pass them on to you too. Both were from Library Journal.

First is Sleeper Hits for Spring featuring titles from HarperCollins, Soho Press, and Severn House. I love these upcoming titles webinars because not only do I get to hear about new books so I can both order them and have some idea of who they would be good for, but when you see more than one publisher present a book buzz in the same program, you cannot help but see some larger trends emerging.

Second is a webinar that I cannot wait to dive into. Here is the link to view the recording and the program summary:

Recorded Books recently launched a streaming video service that allows your library patrons to binge-watch their favorite shows without breaking the library's budget. Now, your patrons can get unlimited access to all shows—not just a single show at a time. Initial services include Acorn TV® (the best in British TV) and four other offerings—with additional services coming soon.  

In this free webinar, you’ll hear library industry veterans Jim Schmidt and Brad Gray explain Recorded Books’ innovative streaming video offering, and how it differs from any other services offered to libraries today. 

What You’ll Learn:

• Unlimited streaming video access—your patrons can watch all the shows they want

• Extremely low cost—4+ times the content for the same price as other vendors

• Wide range of streaming video services—including Acorn TV

• Add to your collection efficiently—you only pay for usage

PanelistsBrad Gray, Solutions Engineer, Recorded BooksJim Schmidt, Vice President of Sales and Business Development, Recorded BooksModeratorRebecca Jozwiak, Library JournalPresented by: Recorded Books & Library Journal

Our patrons love to stream content through the library, this we know. But what we also know is that there are very high fees for us to offer this service. As the summary eludes to, we cannot budget accurately for these services because we cannot gauge how popular it will be. I have been involved with situations where streaming was offered to patrons and then we had to pull it before the end of the year because we couldn't afford to keep paying the per view fees. It is very upsetting to have to discontinue a popular services, but we cannot go broke over it either. The doors need to stay open and the lights need to stay on.

If you are going to PLA I am sure there will be more information available. I can't wait to see this product in action. It reminds me of PLA the last time it was in Philly when I saw the demo of a brand new product-- Hoopla!

Finally, while we are speaking of webinars, I will be giving one later this week, but later today I will be in a planning meeting for a brand new webinar with people from NoveList. It will be coming to a computer near you in April, so stay tuned!