We use mobile apps for just about everything. Games, social media, online shopping, weather, grocery lists, and calendars are just a few things that we can access with our smartphones. Thanks to the new “Find It VA” app, you can also locate and search the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library catalog from anywhere.

First, download the “Find It VA” app for free from the App Store, Google Play, or Windows Phone Store. You can also get the app free for the Amazon Kindle. When you open the app, you’ll see that you can choose to search the catalog of any Library of Virginia. If you allow the app to use your current location, JMRL should show up at the top of the list. Tap it, and you now have access to the library’s catalog. You can search the catalog for books, movies, eBooks, audiobooks, and more.

To search for something, tap the catalog and enter a title or author in the search bar. If you’re in a hurry, you only need to type the first few letters of each word. For example, you can search for “Mark Twain” just by typing “ma twa” into the search bar. Tap the item that you want from the search results and you can see a summary, read reviews, and even place it on hold. eBooks and eAudiobooks can be found under “downloadables.”

If you’re in a bookstore and see a book that you’d like to check out from the library, you can tap “BookLook” in the main menu to scan the barcode. The app will search for the book’s ISBN and check the JMRL catalog for its availability.

The app’s main menu also includes links to Literati for finding reference materials, the Gale Cengage database for finding newspaper and magazine articles, JMRL’s summer reading programs, Tumblebooks for kids, and DayByDayVA for a family literacy calendar. Information about the JMRL branches is also available under “locations and hours.”

With the “Find It VA” app, you can view information on your JMRL account, such as the items you’ve checked out or requested. You can also renew a book right from the app. All you need is your library card.

If you want to be able to check the JMRL catalog while on-the-go – instead of waiting until you’re in front of a computer – download the “Find It VA” app and give it a try today.