The Bryan + College Station Public Library System is joining forces with the Harris County Public Library in a Reciprocal Lending Agreement (RLA) for e-books and e-audiobooks that is the first of its kind in Texas.
This new initiative of partner libraries will allow BCS Library card holders to borrow titles from the Harris County Public Library through the popular Libby Reading App, powered by Overdrive, or directly from the BCS Library OverDrive website. The program is similar to the existing physical Interlibrary Loan program, but without the delays involved with requesting physical items.
“The Bryan + College Station Public Library System is excited to be in partnership with Harris County Public Library in its first Reciprocal Lending Agreement through OverDrive for Texas libraries,” said Bea Saba, Library System Director. “This is a great opportunity to bring our resources together and dramatically increase access and vastly expand the electronic collection for our community.”
Students and educators using Sora: The Student Reading App will also be able to access the partner library collection. These items will be curated for age appropriateness based on Sora criteria.
The partnership only allows for checking out items that are currently available. BCS patrons can’t place holds or recommend titles for purchase in the Harris County e-book collection. Nor will Harris County patrons be able to place holds or recommend items in our collection. Each library sets their own checkout loan periods for titles in their collection.
How to log in to the RLA collection
On OverDrive
1. Visit the BCS Library OverDrive website.
2. Click on the new “Partner libraries” link in the upper right hand corner of the page.
3. Under the down arrow, choose “Harris County Public Library.”
4. Then select “Sign In.” Use your BCS Library Card # and PIN to access the HCPL collection.
On Libby
1. Open the Libby App.
2. Tap the Menu button in the bottom of the screen to bring up the list of libraries.
3. Select “Add Library” from the bottom of the current library list.
4. Search for the partner library (Harris County Public Library).
5. Select the partner library, then tap “Sign in With My Card”.
6. Under the results, select our library to sign in with (Bryan + College Station).
7. Then continue signing in as normal.
