Do you often struggle with the age-old question, What do I read next? With the librarys closure due to Covid-19, you may be feeling at loose ends as you try to choose your next great read. To help with this, Cole Library, with funds from the State Library of Iowa, subscribes to Books and Authors as part of our Gale Resources. Books and Authors is a readers advisory database that makes finding a great read much less challenging. To utilize this readers advisory tool, go to the librarys website www.colelibrary.org, click on the resources tab, and then scroll to the bottom where Gale Resources are listed. Locate and click on Books and Authors. Once you click on Books and Authors, a selection of new books will automatically appear on your screen. From there you can choose an author or a genre you enjoy. You can also limit it to the age of the reader child, young adult or adult. One helpful feature is read-alikes. For example, if you enjoyed the book A Gentleman in Moscow, you can type in that title. When the title comes up, click on it. A box with several read-alike titles will appear, helping you choose your next read. You can also look at Book Lists with the option of Award Winners, Expert Picks and Librarian Favorites. This is a recommendation site, not a book site. How do you get the book? Currently it will need to be an e-book. Once you have found a title, open another window on your computer. Go to our library website again, and under Resources, click on BRIDGES this time. Now you can see if that title is available to download and read. If not, put the title in your wish list for another time or put it on hold. You can then flip back and forth between the two sites by pressing alt and then tab until you find your next great read. Currently you can check out five titles and unlimited magazines on BRIDGES. I hope this helps you to find your next great read until we can browse the library book stacks and talk about the books we have enjoyed.

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