A new service with the Daniel Boone Regional Library system has proved popular.
The library began offering online book recommendations from library staff through Book Oracle this month.
Within two hours of the library announcing the service April 7 in its newsletter, 50 people had submitted requests.
Book lovers in search of their next read fill out an online form listing books they loved, liked and hated, along with preferred genres and book formats.
Under normal circumstances, library staff will then create a list of eight to 10 books in the library's collection for the individual within a week.
Because so many have already jumped on the chance to use the service, the Book Oracle form currently has a warning explaining the turnaround time may be longer.
Learn more about Book Oracle at www.dbrl.org/book-oracle.
The library has also started a new live chat platform for patrons to ask librarians questions through LibChat and receive real-time answers. The chat can be accessed online by clicking the "Ask Us" tab hovering on the website's right side.
Six months ago, money raised by the Daniel Boone Regional Library Foundation was used to introduce online education and job tutoring through Brainfuse.
"We thought it would be a good tool to add with a lot of people learning from home and a non-traditional school year," DBRL collection services manager Kirk Henley said in October.
According to an April report to the DBRL Board of Trustees, an average of 77 visitors have used the help each month. More than 3,500 free lessons and videos have been accessed, and users have participated in 115 live tutoring sessions.
Brainfuse job resources such as resume templates and career exploration tools have been accessed 600 times over the past six months.
DBRL serves Boone and Callaway counties, with locations in Columbia, Fulton, Holts Summit and Ashland.