Come See Us at ALA in Chicago

Written by Jon Williams

The ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition is on the horizon, taking place in Chicago June 22-27. We’ve made our travel plans, and we’re looking forward to connecting with our many library partners. So come see us! You can get all the latest information on Midwest Tape, hoopla digital, and Dreamscape Media at Booth #4420. Our booth hours are as follows:

Friday, June 23:  5:30pm – 7:00pm

Saturday, June 24:  9:00am – 5:00pm

Sunday, June 25:  9:00am – 5:00pm

Monday, June 26:  9:00am – 2:00pm

We’ll have a few special guests making appearances at our booth as well. Stop by and have a book signed!

Sarah Beth Durst has written several novels for young adults, and burst onto the adult fantasy fiction scene in 2016 with The Queen of Blood, winner of a 2017 Alex Award from ALA/YALSA. The second book in the Queens of Renthia series, The Reluctant Queen, will be released on July 4. She will be at our booth on Saturday from 2:00 to 3:00pm.

Shea Fontana has written for the animated children’s TV show Doc McStuffins and the movie Twinkle Toes Lights Up New York, among many others. One other project she’s been involved with is DC Super Hero Girls, and her latest outing is the graphic novel Summer Olympus, featuring Wonder Woman! You’ll find her at our booth on Sunday from 10:00 to 11:00am.

Kate White is a bestselling author of mystery and thriller novels whose most recent release, The Secrets You Keep, released in March of this year. This fall she’ll release Even if It Kills Her, the first new installment in her popular Bailey Weggins mystery series in five years. She will be at our booth on Sunday afternoon from 3:30 to 4:30pm.

Dates and times for these author appearances are subject to change, so be sure to stop by our booth ahead of time to make sure they still hold. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

2012 ALA Annual Conference

Written by David Pett

Thank you to all who stopped by our booth at the 2012 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. We appreciate your interest in Midwest Tape. We had a great time reconnecting with so many old friends and, of course, making new ones. We hope you enjoyed your time in Anaheim as much as we did.

Delivering the Exceptional! 

What really made the conference so exciting for us was the response we got from librarians all across the country about hoopla, our new state-of-the-art digital media platform. This new cutting-edge technology offers a user-friendly design and patron experience not found anywhere else. With hoopla, patrons will have the ability to borrow a wide selection of movies, television, music, and audiobooks from public libraries and view them directly from mobile and desktop devices. Borrowing and returning items is quick and easy, where popular titles are just a tap away. Icons allow users to search through selections and reserve their favorite items. Once patrons have finished viewing materials, titles are automatically removed from mobile and desktop devices and submitted back to the library. In addition to facilitating the lending process, hoopla provides patrons with superior streaming options. Last but not least, users can access all the amazing amenities hoopla has to offer straight from their smartphones.   

Interested in learning more about hoopla?

If you are interested in learning more about hoopla or any of the products and services offered by Midwest Tape, please call your sales representative at 1.800.875.2785. We’ll be happy to set up an appointment for a visit.

Thanks again for your interest in Midwest Tape and we hope to see you at ALA Chicago in 2013!

A Look at Our Exhibit: ALA Anaheim 2012

Here are a few images from our exhibit at this year's ALA Conference! We were certainly excited to share information about our latest products and services with our loyal librarians this weekend.

What were your thoughts on our booth? What new things did you learn about us, and what questions do you have? Feel free to send us your feedback regarding our exhibit...we'd love to hear from you!

Preview of Our Booth at ALA 2012

Hello everyone!! Below are a few preview images of our booth at this year's ALA conference.

What are your thoughts on the set-up?

ALA Anaheim 2012 Opening Reception

Written by Nedda Pourahmady

Tonight marks the official opening of the exhibition hall at this year’s ALA Conference in Anaheim!  A ribbon cutting ceremony will include a short welcoming session from ALA. Food, drinks, and entertainment will be provided at the kick-off event, allowing exhibitors and attendees to start connecting and building upon their professional networks.

Here is a detailed list of all exhibitors at the show, with booth numbers included in each listing.

For those of you attending, which exhibits are you looking forward to most?

Even if you’re not attending this year’s conference, we’d like to hear from you!  Feel free to comment with any questions or concerns you may have about any of our products or services!

The Benefits of Attending ALA 2012

Written by Nedda Pourahmady


For those of you attending ALA 2012, you may be wondering about all the benefits of participating in this big event. By attending this year's conference, you'll acquire a brand new set of skills, strategies, and ideas to use toward increasing the effectiveness and overall impact of your library. Additionally, you will obtain valuable information that may help you better serve your patrons in the future!

We are excited to be a part of this influential event and look forward to seeing you there!!

Here are a few pictures from our initial booth set-up!

What do you hope to learn from this conference? What questions do you have for us? We'd love to hear from you!

Ordering System Update

Written by Nedda Pourahmady

Recently, you may have noticed some moderate delays in product delivery times from our company. We just wanted to let you know that we have heard your concerns and have been proactive in addressing this issue. We have made recent modifications to expedite all orders.

However, due to the new logic put into place, you may notice deliveries arriving out of sequences from when they were ordered.  For example, if you have placed additional copy order requests to receive more quantities of a title previously ordered, there is a chance that the additional copies will arrive before the originally ordered selections.  We guarantee that you will receive all parts of your order and will monitor orders to maximize the proper sequence of orders as much as possible.

Please note that this change will only impact deliveries temporarily and only affect catalog titles, with no impact on street date sensitive titles.

Here at Midwest Tape, we are dedicated to following a steadfast, first-in-first-out order policy. We value our libraries and wanted to make you all aware of this situation.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our customer service department at 800.875.2785.

We thank you for your understanding!

Midwest Tape to Present hoopla at ALA 2012 in Anaheim

Written by Nedda Pourahmady

Did you know that Midwest Tape will be participating in this year’s ALA conference in Anaheim?  If you’re planning on attending, make sure you stop by our brand new booth to learn about hoopla, our new, leading library media platform! With this cutting-edge technology, patrons have the ability to borrow a wide selection of movies, television, music and audiobooks from public libraries and view them directly from mobile and desktop devices!

We will also be discussing our wide range of state-of-the-art services and formats at the conference, including Processing, Customized Standing Order plans, and Audiobooks repackaged in our SoundSafe cases.

Here are the details for the show:

Where:  

Anaheim Convention Center, Booth #1664

Dates of Exhibits: 

Friday, June 22, 5:30pm-7:30pm

Saturday , June 23 and Sunday, June 24, 9:00am-5:00pm

Monday, June 25, 9:00am-2:00pm

For those unable to attend, stay tuned, we’ll be providing updates daily direct from the show floor.  And as always, if you have any questions about hoopla, or any of the products or services offered by Midwest Tape, see your sales representative or call 1.800.875.2785

Hope to see you there!

Midwest Tape Spotlighted in The Blade

John Eldred, president and owner of Midwest Tape, says that the cases into which his company packs material are meant to withstand the impact of being tossed around and thrown into drop boxes. THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGTEnlarge | Photo Reprints

Story from The Blade newspaper

Chances are you've handled one of Midwest Tape's products and didn't even know it.

The Holland company, which does more than $100 million in business a year, repackages and sells DVDs, CDs, and audio books to about 4,000 libraries across the country. It got its start about 20 years ago and profits by staying ahead of the ever-changing media landscape.

When VHS tapes gave way to DVDs, the company was on top of it. Now, as physical media transitions into the digital era, the company is building an electronic database of movies, music, and electronic books for libraries. The project, dubbed Hoopla, is in the developmental phase.

"Physical media, in the immediate future, is not going to disappear," said John Eldred, president and owner of Midwest Tape. "The demise of physical media … it's going to last for years to come. How long? I don't know."

Libraries came to rely on the company because it packages CDs, DVDs, and electronic books inside durable cases. The cases are meant to withstand the impact of being tossed around and thrown into drop boxes, Mr. Eldred said.

"When you buy a CD in a clamshell or a DVD in that flimsy plastic box, we repackage them into a heavier box," he said. "It's so they can survive the drop box."

Patricia Lowrey, director of technical services at the Cleveland Public Library, said the packaging protects the library's collection from wear and tear that otherwise would destroy DVDs and CDs.

"They've been terrific about developing better packaging that's really designed for us," Ms. Lowrey said. "We really appreciate that. It makes our material last longer. We get a lot better bang for the buck because of the work they do before they sell it to us."

Kathy Woodbury puts stickers on CDs that are being repacked into sturdier cases so that the material inside lasts longer.  THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGTEnlarge | Photo Reprints

The company's forward-looking perspective also is a boon for libraries, which have seen an increase in demand for DVDs, CDs, and electronic downloads, said Jean Gaffney, manager of acquisition and collection development at the Dayton Metro Library. The library has seen a 117 percent increase in its downloads in the last year, she added.

"As times have changed, they have been on the forefront of changing with the times," Ms. Gaffney said. "Now we purchase all of our movies and DVDs from them. We purchase probably most of our audio books from them."

Midwest Tape employs about 340 people and has grown in spite of the Great Recession and turbulent economy. As video stores close and people lose the ability to rent physical media, they're turning to libraries, Mr. Eldred said. The company now packages and catalogs and sometimes selects whole media selections for libraries. It offers 140,000 different selections.

"We're continuing to expand," he said. "We offer almost turn-key services for libraries. … For some of the libraries, they give us a budget and we do all the purchasing for them."