Music downloads offered by Library

The Vermilion Parish Library now has a new feature it hopes will increase member participation online.

The ability to download music has been added via the Freegal service, a service that many libraries have picked up in recent years, including other library systems in the Acadiana area.

Freegal has more than seven million songs in its database, it claims on its site, with songs from more than 28,000 labels. It offers tiered service to libraries, which each tier going up in price as it allows users to download more songs in a week. The Vermilion Parish Library opted for a lower tier, giving its users three free song downloads per week.

Freegal also has apps in both the iTunes and Google Play stores on smartphones.

The music offered is “DRM free,” meaning it will play on any computer, tablet, player or smartphone. The same goes for music videos, which you can also download, but they cost two of your download slots (meaning you can download one music video and one song in a week).

The “count” resets on Mondays.

Charlotte Trosclair, director of the library, says that seeing other libraries using it and having a lot of participation in the program inspired her to adopt it for Vermilion.

“I called Iberia Parish, and they were having tremendous success with it,” she explained. “And we’re always looking for more ways to get people involved and get them to use the services available at the library.

“I thought it would bring people to the library and to our website,” she added. “This is now our second year to have it.”

This year, the service has already generated higher numbers than all of last year.

Last year, the library had 1,352 downloads and 105 patrons that used the services. But, in just the first five months of 2014, the library has already had 1,113 downloads and 121 patrons who use the service.

“I expect that number to double,” Trosclair said. “It’s really catching on now.”

The service one of many online services offered by the library, which is expanding its services to meet the needs of its patrons, Trosclair said. The library has, in recent years, focused a lot more on getting the services out there to the people of Vermilion Parish.

Also being offered at the library’s website are ebooks and audio books. There is also an online catalog for those who may not have the time to go in and browse.