Your Library Card: The New Multi-Pass for Entertainment and…Gaming?

Previously Published to Talent Zoo’s Digital Pivot

If you haven’t visited a library in some-odd years, chances are you still think people are going to the library to study and read 800-page encyclopedias on some war we never heard about. Well, actually, you could be right, because learning is “fun-for-da-mental,” but you would also be wrong. Here’s why:

Today, many people are heading to their local libraries as a center for tech access to the ever-evolving world. Whether your computer’s charger blew up for the umpteenth time and you’re waiting on the new one to arrive, or your toddler jumped on the bed, sending that expensive MacBook Pro flying into the wall and it totally needs to be replaced, people are heading to the library every day to meet those tech needs.

Heading in, you will see that the World of the Library is no longer about Macaulay Culkin and the Pagemaster and all about technology. People are going to the library for audiobooks, new DVD releases, and 60-and-up classes on how to use an Android Device to download an app.

If you are in Orlando, Florida, you will learn that the public library will offer you access to a full-fledged recording studio, video production space, and giant touch-screen meeting rooms. All of these things promote learning, productivity, imagination, and access to a new world within “Tech.”

Today, September 3, 2015, Recorded Books, the largest independent publisher of unabridged audiobooks and professional digital media provider through the public library system, announces a game-changing partnership with OnePlay. No, seriously; they are announcing a new means for allowing digital subscription and downloadability for premium games with access through your public library system.

Earlier this summer, the partnership between OnePlay and Recorded Books, Inc. was launched at select libraries in testing phases of the downloadable PC and Android video game experience. Now, they are live and available at most libraries across the country.

All video games are free and without advertising built in. The best thing is, because they are continuously added and downloadable, users are not subject to holds or waiting for a new game to be made available, as is often the case with DVD rentals and book system borrowing.

“OnePlay is proud to partner with Recorded Books, and we are looking forward to servicing libraries and their users with great games,” said Lasse Jensen, OnePlay CEO. Will public libraries see an influx in library access? Will the new demand for a library card lead our society to go the additional mile and read something? Stay tuned to a local library near you!