e books from public library?

[Jayco52]

Does anyone know if borrowing e books from public library is available in the UK?

Message was edited by: StartTheCar

[@3806830802024487]

I don't live in an e-library county but have cousins who do - one of them was kind enough to allow me to use my own name & their address to join their library service (they went in to pick up the ticket and posted it to me).

[jopearc22]

This is the link referred to by carpetmojo on MobileRead http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120523

[jintyg]

E books are available to download to Sony and other compatible devices from Edinburgh City Libraries. However, you have to have  a EH postcode and proof of address to join. You can borrow up to 5 books at a time.

[Cymraes]

Haven't used it myself yet, but this site might be of interest/use to readers in Wales https://wales.libraryebooks.co.uk/site/EB/ebooks/ 

[PaulC_UK]

Many UK County Public Libraries offer ebook lending, basically you have to be a member of the Library where you live. I have manually downloaded epub books and transferred to my Sony eReader successfully.

To make this easier and less manual process, the Public Library needs to listed on the Sony Web site and the eReader, buth this list is far from complete. For example, there is no Central England region, so Birmingham and Warwickshire not listed.

To get listed the Library has to be registered with OverDrive, a USA Company, and that is where I believe the problem lies. The list is managed and updated by OverDrive who I feel, have little knowledge and interest in our small island and its various counties. I contacted my Public Library (Warwickshire, UK) and they stated they have registerd as required so do not know why they are not listed.

Message was edited by: PaulC_UK

Message was edited by: PaulC_UK

[elainefrances57]

Wirral libraries offer the facility of e books and I have had no problems in downloading it is so easy and such a good service with plenty of titles to choose from both fiction and non-fiction.  Audiobooks are also available to download but do take up a lot of space on the Reader.  Again, there is a good selection of these to choose from.  I also have had no problems downloading from various sources and find "Books on Board" very easy to deal with they have both a US and UK site with many titles in store and at very reasonable prices.  I am very pleased with my Reader and have had no problems whatsoever would definitely recommend to anyone.  My friend who got a Kindle for Christmas wishes she had a Reader as she is totally tied in to Amazon and was amazed at what my Reader could do compared to her Kindle which, by the way, was also more expensive.

[carpetmojo]

Elain - don't forget (if it's a 650 or a T1 ) you can use the seperate memory card for just your audio, so not taking up space on the hard drive.You can then build up a separate Audio library.....:smileyhappy:

And, to all really, don't forget that their are quite a few (legal)  free sites out there, Project Gutenberg and MoblieRead library to name but two, with lots of stuff - mainly public domain, but some excellent versions done by enthusiasts. And you get to keep them !

And many "commercial" sites do offer books for £00- if you're quick !  Hopefully, Reader Store will do this also, it gets authors recognition/renewed interest, and they generally like this !

Also, a good source of  new writing and special offers from mainstream publishers is the MobileRead Forums, in Resources, New writers, and Reader Recommendations sections. Also a section giving details of UK specific libraries that have digital collections.

But be careful if you simply Google "Free ebook downloads" - a lot will be "pirate" sites.

Message was edited by: carpetmojo

Message was edited by: carpetmojo

[carpetmojo]

Oh grief, the sites being worked on AGAIN... The edit facility aint working again ....:smileysad:

Here's what I forgot to add re: libraries - MobileRead Forums also has details of all free libraries over the globe - but also have a UK speific section giving details, regularly updated, of UK libraries with libraries with digital collections, and requirements needed.

[carpetmojo]

Oops - it was lying ....    

[ZumbaChumba]

I managed to borrow a book from my local (Dorset) library today, using the onboard Wifi and my library card number, it was much less painless than I anticipated, but then I was dealing with Overdrive and not Sony, so I guess that's the reason.