NOLS’ collection of magazines just got a lot bigger! Magazines are a much-loved collection, with nearly 200 titles in print, available to borrow or read in-house. From Adventure Kayak to Yoga Journal, NOLS patrons love to keep up-to-date with the latest issue. Backpackers, gluten-free home cooks, knitters, car enthusiasts, and poetry readers are just a few of the hobbyists who’ll find periodicals at NOLS. But…

But magazines can only be read by one person at a time. They frequently wear out and fall apart. Sometimes they get damaged. Titles are housed at only one branch, and holds take time.

In January, NOLS began a one-year trial of downloadable magazines, currently available through the Washington Anytime Library. Over 3,000 popular magazines are now available, including titles like Cook’s Illustrated, Field and Stream, and Mother Earth News. Over 1,200 regularly-published magazines are available in English, along with 1,300 special single-issue English-language titles. Readers will also find nearly 200 Spanish-language titles and over 650 titles in other languages, including Afrikaans, Chinese, Japanese, French, and others.

Magazines include current and back issues for up to 2 years and checkout for the same borrowing period (choose 1, 2, or 3 weeks). No more waiting for the current issue to circulate! All magazines are Simultaneous Use: an unlimited number of readers can access the same issue at the same time with no holds—ever! And! Magazine checkouts do not count against your borrowing limit. Users can borrow up to 5 eBooks and eAudiobooks at one time; if a 6th item arrives on hold, you’d have to return another title in order to check it out. Magazines don’t count towards your 5—you can have 5 eBooks and 2 magazines, or 4 eAudiobooks and 10 magazines.

Access magazines through the free Libby app for the best reading experience: download magazines for off-line perusal, receive automatic notifications about new issues, and screenshot articles and recipes to save to your device or share with friends. Libby is compatible with Apple phones and tablets, Android phones and tablets, and Chromebook.

Readers using other devices, including Kindle Fire tablets, personal computers, and library computers can still read the full range of magazines, accessible with the “Read now in browser” tool. Put those reading glasses away: in-browser reading supports OverDrive’s “Accessibility sizes” of text—see these examples, from the December 2021 issue of Food Network Magazine.

To get started borrowing magazines, download Libby to your smart phone or tablet, or use your Kindle Fire tablet or personal computer to visit https://anytime.overdrive.com/anytime-north/magazines. No computer? No problem. Public computers are currently available at all NOLS branches, and circulating laptops can be checked out for up to 3 hours, to use on-site with NOLS WiFi. No physical magazine subscriptions were cancelled to support this one-year trial of downloadable magazines.

More Information
For more information about OverDrive and magazines, visit nols.org, call 360.683.1161, or email Discover@nols.org. The Sequim Branch Library is located at 630 North Sequim Avenue.