How to Read Hundreds of Books for Free
Leveraging the Local Library
From January 2021 when I started my romance reading adventure until now (September 2022), I have borrowed and read over 450 books from my library. I have been a huge fan of borrowing ebooks from the library for many years, but as a voracious romance reader, the library is even more beloved because of the sheer volume of books I can consume without spending any money. Living in Sacramento County, California, my primary library is the Sacramento Public Library and I primarily use the digital content available for ebooks and audiobooks. If you’re new to borrowing digital content, I’ll recap how I go about it.
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How to Borrow Digital Content
Using OverDrive/Libby
The primary digital collection that I access from the library is from OverDrive. The collection and usage limits will vary from library to library. For example, Sacramento Public Library allows 60 simultaneous checkouts for three weeks and 30 holds. The catalog can be viewed on a web browser via the OverDrive website or on the Libby app, which integrates with the OverDrive catalog. If you’ve logged into either the website or the app with your library card, all your borrows and holds should be synchronized.
Within OverDrive/Libby, each book will have a limited number of copies owned by the library. If someone else has already borrowed the digital copy, you have to option to put the book on hold. When it’s available, you will receive an email or a notification on your device. You can then choose to borrow it immediately or delay the hold a bit longer if you’re not ready to read it yet.
If you want a book that your library does not own, you may have the option to recommend it to the library. You’ll need to use the OverDrive website to do this. Search for the book you want and when it does not appear in the results, click the link that says “add titles the library doesn’t own” to see more info. Below the image of the book, there’s a link to “Recommend” and you can click that and input your email address. If the library ends up purchasing the book, you’ll receive an email or notification when it’s available to borrow. I use this feature all the time for upcoming releases I’m excited about and then I get to be first in line to borrow the book when it’s available.
So now that you’ve borrowed an ebook or audiobook, how do you read/listen to it?
Ebooks can be read either within the Libby app or sent to your Kindle app or device. Within the native Libby app on your smartphone or tablet, you can adjust the font settings and size, background color, spacing, etc. The app tracks how long you have been reading the book and gives you an estimate of how much time you have remaining until you finish the book. If you choose to send the ebook to Kindle, it’ll send you to a page to log in with your Amazon account information. You can then select the device you have linked to your Amazon account. I tend to jump around from device to device so I personally use the Kindle app on my phone, a Kindle Paperwhite e-reader, and the Kindle Cloud Reader on my web browser on my laptop. Since they’re all synced together, I can switch devices without losing my place. The Kindle options will also allow you to customize font size, spacing, etc.
Audiobooks can be played within the Libby app. I generally like the user interface here and am able to increase the playback speed, jump between chapters, bookmark locations, etc. I appreciate the indicators that show how many minutes are left in each chapter.
Using Hoopla
Hoopla is another digital catalog with ebooks, audiobooks, movies, TV shows, and music. Depending on your library, you are limited to a certain number of checkouts per month for a pre-specified check out timeframe. Sacramento Public Library allows five checkouts per calendar month for a period of three weeks for ebooks. The upside to Hoopla is that there are no holds and you can borrow anything from the catalog immediately. Their collection is the same no matter which library card you’re using and overlaps a little bit with the OverDrive/Libby collection. I tend to check Hoopla for a book I want only if it’s not available on OverDrive/Libby. Books borrowed via Hoopla can only be viewed using the Hoopla app or on the web (i.e. I can’t send the book to my e-reader device).
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Maximize Access with Multiple Library Cards
One of the best things about primarily reading ebooks is that I don’t need to physically go anywhere to pick up and borrow a book. They’re all right at my fingertips either on my computer or my smartphone. This means that distance is pretty much meaningless and I can borrow an ebook from a library system that is hundreds of miles away from where I live. Many library systems are fully aware of this benefit and offer library cards to all residents within the state (even if they’re not exactly in town or able to physically come to a branch). My strategy for finding additional library cards is to Google “California library ecard” or “California digital library card” (obviously, change to your own state as needed). Many of the results will give you the specific criteria for how to apply for a card and whether you need to be a local resident or need to visit a branch in person. Please follow all the rules set forth by the library and be honest about your real address and phone number! Also, library policies are subject to change and a card I may have gotten a few years ago might not be available to all residents anymore. If you’re approved for a digital library card, you can access all of the digital resources that are offered from that library (which hopefully includes OverDrive/Libby or Hoopla).
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Out of Area Paid Library Cards
In some cases, there are libraries across the United States that will allow out of area patrons to purchase library card access. Most famously, the Brooklyn Public Library previously offered this service (as of July 2022, this is no longer available). However a few other major libraries in the US offer library cards for a small fee. Again, libraries may change their policies at any time so these may not be available indefinitely. Information and links below are from this Reddit post.
The Queens Public Library offers a non-resident card for $50 annually that you can apply and pay for online to have immediate access. Smaller selection than Brooklyn, but a large number of holds and loans on OverDrive / Libby!
Houston Public Library also has a digital access card for $40 annually that you can apply for online where they add a "fee" to your account so you can pay for it. But they add the fee immediately, unlike Brooklyn, so you can pay with a credit card and have immediate access.
The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system has a non-resident card that gives access to their online collections for $45 annually. Apply for it online here.
The Orange County Library System offers a fee card that gives access to both physical and digital collections for $75 for 3 months, or $125 annually. Note that this is almost double the cost of most other cards, but has the benefit of accessing physical collections if you're ever in Orange County. Apply for it online here. Note: This is the only option available to non-US residents.
The Enoch Pratt Free Library offers an out-of-state card for $50 annually that looks like it gives access to both physical and digital collections. You'll have to fill out a form and send it via email. Instructions are here.
Search Quickly with Library Extension
A method for easily checking if the book you’re interested in reading is available at the library (before you purchase a physical or digital copy) is to install the Library Extension plugin for your web browser. After it is installed, you can update the settings to add your own library systems to the extension and then select if you want the extension to search physical catalogs and/or digital catalogs. As mentioned above, I have a lot of library cards for systems throughout the state of California, so it’s really nice to have multiple libraries being searched at the same time. If you have lots of libraries selected, I also recommend changing the General Settings to change the search from “automatic” to “on-demand” so that your page isn’t taking forever to load every time you’re just browsing on a book website. Now, when you visit major book-related websites (Amazon, Goodreads, FantasticFiction, and others), you will be able to see if the book you want is available at the library. Before I installed this extension, I would methodically go through every library card in my Libby app searching for the book I wanted and it was terribly time-consuming. Now it’s all one search right on the book listing page.
Even More Books with Paid Ebook Memberships
For even more access, there are paid ebook subscription services like Kindle Unlimited or Scribd which typically charge a monthly membership fee to access their catalog. I’ll talk about these in a separate post in the future.
Thanks so much for reading this post! Looking for more bookish resources and romance book reviews? Read the archives!
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I’m a huge advocate for libraries. I appreciate this post. Also, Kobo Plus is an excellent subscription program. 📚