Over the last few days, Amazon and Overdrive announced that Amazon eBooks will now be available at public libraries in the USA. Currently, the Kindle is probably the most popular e-reader in the world and it is good news for ereader owners who have been left out of the library world.
Overdrive is the system that over 11,000 public libraries in the United States use to facilitate the borrowing process. The addition of Kindle Books does not add any type of extra costs to the institutions that currently do business with Overdrive.
The books are not exclusive to the Amazon line of e-readers, but can be used on a myriad of devices. You can download the official Kindle App on Android, iOS, webOS, Blackberry, and others.
Here is the process for checking out a library eBook for Kindle:
- Visit your library’s ‘Virtual Branch’ website
- Browse and check out a Kindle book.
- Click the ‘Get for Kindle’ button. This opens the Amazon.com website. You may be required to sign in with your Amazon.com account if you are not already logged in.
- Select a Kindle device or Kindle reading app. Click the ‘Get library book’ button and sync your device or app to download the book, or choose to send it to your device via USB.
- An active Wi-Fi connection is required for wireless delivery to a Kindle device. If your Kindle is not Wi-Fi capable, or you do not have an active Wi-Fi connection, read Amazon’s instructions for transferring files via USB.
The video below was produced by Overdrive and explains the entire process of borrowing books from the library for your Kindle e-reader or Kindle App.
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.
