The Harrington Library Consortium is joining Texas cloudLink - a network of Texas libraries that have agreed to give one another's patrons access to their library of digital titles available through the 3M Cloud Library.  As a result, cardholders at HLC's 87 member libraries will soon have access to more than a quarter million downloadable ebooks and audiobooks.

HLC Director Amanda Barrera says many library patrons learned how to take advantage of downloadable library books during the pandemic and have continued to utilize that service as restrictions have been lifted.  "Right now, the Texas cloudLink collection consists of almsot 250,000 total shareable copies.  More titles are being added quarterly, and the existing member libraries were excited at the prospect of incorporating HLC's 8,377 titles into their collection, so this resource will just continue to expand for our cardholders."

HLC's integration into the cloudLink is scheduled for September 7, so HLC library patrons could start seeing the expanded access as early as September 8.

One change for Amarillo Public Library cardholders is that there will now be two apps to search for available titles.  APL joined the Texas State Library and Archives Commission's SimplyE proteam in 2021 - a move that more than doubled the number of downloadable titles available to APL cardholders.  The new Texas cloudLink holdings will not be accessible through that app due to licensing restrictions, so patrons will need to use the cloudLibrary app to search titles owned by the Texas cloudLink Group.

The cloudLibrary and SimplyE apps are available from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.  Once patrons have downloaded the apps, they will simply choose Harrington Library Consortium (cloudLibrary) or Amarillo Public Library (SimplyE) as their home library and then log in using their library card number and PIN.

For more information, contact Library Coordinator of PR & Programming Stacy Clopton.