Libraries based in Australia that use Overdrive’s content delivery system to fuel their ebook lending needs are in for a treat. Almost 23,000 titles are now available without a wait list or holds for customers, they are all instant downloads.
Many popular e-readers that are available to Australians via our retail partner www.shopereaders.com allows anyone with a Nook, Sony, or Kobo e-reader to borrow books from the library. Overdrive is by far the delivery system of choice to deliver books in ePub format. This is the eBook format of choice for many of the world’s most popular e-readers.
When you gain access to Project Gutenberg books via Overdrive in the Australian library system, the borrowed books do not count towards your checkout limit. The books not not expire and you can essentially think of them as yours. One of the great aspects of Project Gutenberg is that they are all free and open source. Overdrive and supported libraries merely optimize them and make them available for most people who have an e-reader that can borrow books from the library. A good way to tell if your e-reader of choice can read these books, is make sure your device is recognized by Adobe Digital Editions. This program normally indicates if it supports your e-reader and can transfer borrowed books from the library onto it. If you have a Kindle, you are out of luck for now, Amazon will be getting into the lending game in the Fall.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
