Library and other resources
There are two sections on this page: first, resources within the Jackson County Library System; then, other resources (mostly online). Newest additions are at the end of each section.
Other websites related to our library system:
Jackson County Library Services http://www.jcls.org/
Jackson County Library Foundation http://www.jclf.org
Friends of the Ashland Public Library http://ashlandfriends.org/
Friends of the Medford Library http://foml.weebly.com/index.html
Friends of the Talent Library http://homepage.mac.com/fotl/
Resources at Jackson County Libraries
The Jackson County Library system's home page is a good general place to start. Here are links to some specific things you might want to do.
Finding books
Check the catalog for books, audiobooks, CDs, and other materials. Use the pulldown Search By menu to choose a search by author, title, subject, or other criterion. This online catalog includes the holdings of Jackson County's 15 branch libraries and also those of Rogue Community College. Your Jackson County library card enables to you to borrow materials from RCC by having them sent to the branch library of your choice.
The “Limit by:” pulldown menu lets you find only LARGE PRINT books that match your search terms, or only videotapes, and so on.
If you want to become a real pro at online searching of the catalog, there is a detailed Help document with easy to use table of contents.
Have books reserved and sent to your branch for you to pick up
Find what you want in the online catalog and then place a reserve using the "Place Request" link on the page describing the book. You will be asked for your library card number and password. The book will be sent to whichever branch you chose when you got your library card; to check which one this is, or change it for a particular request, use the pull-down menu opposite “Pickup Library:”. If you want to change your pick-up library permanently, a librarian can help you do this at any branch.
Library cards
Get a library card at any Jackson County branch library. Bring two pieces of ID that show your address in the county. More questions about library cards, fines, etc. are answered here.
Branch locations and hours
View a map of the 15 branch libraries; click on name of town to view hours, address, phone number, and other information.
Renew your books
You can do this online, on your personal Patron Account page; after logging in with your library card number and password, you will see these links:
Or renew your books by phone at any branch that is open. (See the Branch locations link.) You will need your library card number.
Reach your Personal Account page from the main jcls.org page
In the upper left of the main library page (www.jcls.org) you’ll see this:
Click on “Patron Account” (next to the last choice) and it will take you to the page where you enter your card number and password.
Ask a reference question over the phone
Call 541-774-8689 to speak to a reference librarian during open hours.
Talk with a librarian using online chat, even when our libraries are closed!
You can get help with homework, Internet searching, or reference questions from a librarian using this link. If no local librarians are available, such as during evening or weekend hours, librarians from elsewhere in the state or even the country are usually online to help with your question.
Request a book that is not in our library system
Fill out an Interlibrary Loan request at any branch. There is a $5 charge per request to pay for processing and shipping. When your book arrives at your branch you will be notified by telephone; the checkout period is set by the library that owns the book.
Outreach to the housebound
Outreach delivers library materials to individuals in Jackson County who cannot get to the library due to age, illness or disability. This includes:
Individual Homebound Residents
Caregivers
Retirement Centers
Adult Foster Care Homes
People with Disabilities
Materials delivered include:
Large Print Books
Regular Print Books
Paperback Books
Audiobooks
Music CDs
Videos
Magazines
Answers to Your Questions!
You can call Outreach to the Homebound and receive further information at: 541-774-6564. Or you can e-mail us at: outreach@jcls.org.
Library2Go: download audiobooks!
This service began with audiobooks for adults; now, with the help of a $75,000 grant, the service also offers children’s books, young adult books, and videos. In June, 934 children’s and young adult books went online along with 812 movies, 150 of which are “always available.” Remaining movie titles have limited checkouts, but can be put on hold by library cardholders.
Funding comes from the Oregon State Library’s Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) competitive grant program.
Library card holders of Jackson County Libraries and other member libraries can access best-selling digital audio book titles and videos online. All titles are playable on a PC. Most audio book titles also can transfer to any Windows’ Media Player compatible MP3 or CD for listening on the go.
Access to the service is available 24/7 through the Library2Go link. For more information or help to get started contact your local branch library or e-mail infolib@jcls.org.
Latest additions
Free Highspeed Wireless Access at the Library
The County has added free highspeed wireless internet access to each of the 15 branches (except Applegate where the connection is still being worked on). Each network reaches out about 50 feet from the building and is available 24 hours a day. This makes it possible to use the network from the parking lot (within 50 ft.) or to work outside in pleasant weather. Your laptop will automatically detect the network and ask if you want to join it. At Ruch, the network is named RCHWIFI; that’s the one to choose in your network-joining dialog box. No password is needed.
Surf the web, perform large uploads or downloads, get your email, watch a movie, whatever you need to do.
Reading-related resources at other sites
These links lead to pages not on FORL’s site. We do not endorse any of the off-site resources or take responsibility for their content.
Latest additions at bottom.
Buying books (used and new) online
To see who’s got the best prices for a book you want, here are three places which search multiple online booksellers for both used and new books. There are many other such pages. These are easy to use. You can search by author, title, keyword, or ISBN number on these.
Addall Book Search & Price Comparison
isbn.nu Search page
Amazon (book search page) often has low prices on new books. It also shows used, and “remaindered” new books from other sellers. When you have found the book you want, click on the “See all buying options” button like the one below if you want to see used and new books from other sellers in addition to Amazon’s offerings.
Is the book I want available in LARGE PRINT?
Look above under Finding books to see if the library has the title you want in large print format. If it does not, you may wish to know if the book has been published in this format. Once you know that it has been, you can ask the library to add it; request it on Interlibrary Loan (cost $5 for shipping from another library); or see how much it would cost to buy new or used. Here are three pages which will help you find out if a given book is available in LARGE PRINT.
Amazon: the search box on Amazon is not reliable in finding large print books. The site does have a section especially for large print books, which you can browse by subject, on this page.
abebooks: this page allows you to search for either LARGE PRINT or audio books, just check the box and fill in author, title, or keyword.
biblio.com: has a good search page for both new and used titles in large print, and you can also browse by subject (fiction, mystery, science fiction, history, etc.).
Searching for a book on any one of these sites can be done just for information; you do not need to open an account or make a purchase. Once you know that the title you are looking for is available in large print, then you can choose how to get it. See Addall and isbn.nu above, which search various sites to find lowest prices on a title.
To avoid confusion, copy the ISBN number of the large print book that you find and use that (not the title) in searching for a copy to buy––that way you can be sure you are getting the large print edition.
Latest additions
Finding a book when you’ve forgotten the author and title
Call on an international community of book lovers
to help you find old favorites!
Searching for a forgotten book? BookSleuth® to the rescue. This is a branch of the discussion forums run by used-bookseller abebooks.com. They have separate US and UK sites; each has its own forums and Booksleuth® section.
http://forums.abebooks.co.uk/abesleuthuk
http://forums.abebooks.com/abesleuthcom
Here is the abebooks description of BookSleuthe®:
Is there a special book that you read, or perhaps had read to you, at some point in your life but you can't remember the author and title? Perhaps you know the plot, or a character, or maybe even what the front cover looks like. BookSleuth® is here to help you find that book! Simply post a short description of what you can remember here on our board. Visitors from all over the world will read your post, and one of them is bound to know exactly what you're talking about and post a response. Not missing anything? Why not see if you can help anyone else find their long-lost books?
Each of the two forums has some genre divisions: General, Children's, Romance, Mystery, Non-fiction, Science Fiction. The members who answer questions are real enthusiasts with incredible memories (even for 40-year old short stories!), and their answers sometimes include valuable index-type websites where other such questions can be researched.
One tip: if you decide to post a query: use a specific, descriptive title for your post, not “Help, looking for book title” or “Looking for old cookbook”.
Here a a few sample queries:
Kids lost in outback
American Civil War & female cat burglar (in same book!)
A Particular Jewish Cookbook
Children playing casting shadows 1950's
Type 23 Frigate in an West African coup
Middle East Trucking
Suffragette Story for teen/child reader
Novel with storyline based around chess
Look out, though, cruising these forums is likely to have you adding more books to your future reading list!
