
View Full Version : Do Libraries have eBooks not available on the net?


Ken Maltby
03-01-2010, 09:22 PM
What is the advantage of getting your eBooks from your local library?
Is it just to avoid buying them? Or are there books you can get from
the library that you can't find elsewhere?

Am I missing out on something if I have a reader that can't do Adobe
DRM?

Luck;
Ken

Ervserver
03-01-2010, 09:43 PM
in my experience the library ebook selection is similar to their paper books, yea I check out what I can as opposed to buying. I only buy books I can't find for lending or I plan to read over and over.

PodPeople
03-01-2010, 09:44 PM
What is the advantage of getting your eBooks from your local library?
Is it just to avoid buying them? Or are there books you can get from
the library that you can't find elsewhere?

Am I missing out on something if I have a reader that can't do Adobe
DRM?

Luck;
Ken
I guess this gets down to whether there should even be libraries since almost all of the books in them can be purchased. Before the days of ebooks one could justify borrowing books from libraries because doing so saved trees. Now that new books are available electronically maybe that will no longer be an excuse. However, not everybody wants to sit in front of their computer to read a book, and e-readers are in their infancy and cost more than a lot of people want to spend. Many people don't buy books if they are available from a library because they have no interest in keeping them once they have been read.

Sydney's Mom
03-01-2010, 11:23 PM
I get those books from the library that I intend to read once. But you can't count on the library to carry everything - I just bought some philosophy books, that I didn't even look for at the library. The library is great for current fiction, bestseller nonfiction, and romance.

Alisa
03-01-2010, 11:29 PM
My library's ebook selection is much slimmer than what I see at most ebook retailers. I have never seen something in their catalog that I cannot purchase elsewhere. The advantage is that I've already paid for the book through my taxes. I can read it without paying for it again.

Ken Maltby
03-02-2010, 12:35 AM
I wasn't trying to make an issue of buying vs. a loan of books.

What I was wondering about is if the library eBook offerings were something
that might be unavailable some place else. What I might be missing if I could
not access the library eBook offerings. So far, it sounds like there may be
nothing in the library offerings that I can't find elsewhere and perhaps there
may be a greater selection through the online offerings.

Thanks,
Ken

SimonSays
03-02-2010, 01:43 AM
The local libraries here offer a lot in both physical format and internet format. I go to the libraries here at least once a week, try for two times, and dl a lot of ebooks too. I am a HUGE supporter of libraries and donate many many books, and Wii games, to them.

alroy
03-02-2010, 01:57 AM
I'll borrow a book from the library if its available. However, I have a Sony touch edition eReader and if I add a library book thats in PDF format or epub at the same time from the library it shuts down the other format that I didnt open. It does not do that when I purchase epub and PDF formats. My library even has a warning about adding epub books and PDF Books at the same time. This is what it says:

For Sony eReader users:

* Use only one version of eBooks (either Adobe Digital Editions or EPUB) at a given time. Downloading eBooks in both versions to a Sony eReader at the same time will interrupt functionality.

dmaul1114
03-02-2010, 02:16 AM
Yeah, you're unlikely to find stuff you can't buy. Just like print books, other than government documents, out of print books etc., anything they have you could buy.

It's just good for reading stuff once. I've not looked into it as it seems to be a hassle on the Kindle and a lot of the stuff I read they probably don't have anyway. And with the e-books I read mostly being $6-10 I'm fine paying that for something I'll read once anyway.

Crusader
03-02-2010, 01:30 PM
Libraries in my country don't offer ebooks, but I make a point to visit my local library every two weeks and pick up the 4 books I'm allowed in that period. It's a great way to discover new authors and stumble upon something you might have missed otherwise.

Over here the libraries have to keep track of the number of books loaned each month to justify their existence. The more people that borrow books from them the greater the chances are that they'll be getting new books to expand their selection. I try to do my best to keep their numbers up since I can't imagine a town without a library!

thename
03-02-2010, 01:59 PM
This may sound a bit tinfoil hatty but I'll admit it: I borrow ebooks from the library to keep my reading private. Our library's ebook collection is explicitly covered by the library's privacy policies which I find comforting. My library ebooks come down and then get loaded to my non-connected Sony and nobody but the library is the wiser. Which doesn't worry me as they've committed to not sharing the information.

Shaggy
03-02-2010, 03:13 PM
What is the advantage of getting your eBooks from your local library?

Same as getting pBooks from the library, I would expect.

Or are there books you can get from the library that you can't find elsewhere?

I doubt the Publisher would go through the effort of making an eBook version and then not selling it. That would be a little odd.

radamo
03-02-2010, 04:29 PM
I wasn't trying to make an issue of buying vs. a loan of books.

What I was wondering about is if the library eBook offerings were something
that might be unavailable some place else. What I might be missing if I could
not access the library eBook offerings. So far, it sounds like there may be
nothing in the library offerings that I can't find elsewhere and perhaps there
may be a greater selection through the online offerings.

Thanks,
Ken

Ken,
In my experience, the libraries offer a subset of what is available elsewhere. I have inquired about certain books and authors at my local library only to be informed that it was unavailable to "them". Upon checking on the web those same titles were available for purchase elsewhere.

Regards,
Rich

Shaggy
03-02-2010, 04:37 PM
In my experience, the libraries offer a subset of what is available elsewhere. I have inquired about certain books and authors at my local library only to be informed that it was unavailable to "them". Upon checking on the web those same titles were available for purchase elsewhere.


I don't know a lot about the infrastructure involved, but I wonder if that's a DRM issue. I assume the library would need the eBooks available to them in a format that supports whatever DRM they use for the lending.

thename
03-02-2010, 04:44 PM
Ken,
In my experience, the libraries offer a subset of what is available elsewhere. I have inquired about certain books and authors at my local library only to be informed that it was unavailable to "them". Upon checking on the web those same titles were available for purchase elsewhere.

Regards,
Rich

Most libraries use Overdrive for their ebook lending which has a limited library of books and libraries purchase (rent? license?) a subset of that library (some much bigger than others (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66168)).

JSWolf
03-02-2010, 04:50 PM
It seems to me that a lot of people are looking into library eBooks after having purchased a reader that cannot handle library eBooks. Why not look into library eBooks BEFORE the purchase of a reader?

Joykins
03-02-2010, 05:01 PM
What is the advantage of getting your eBooks from your local library?
Is it just to avoid buying them? Or are there books you can get from
the library that you can't find elsewhere?

Am I missing out on something if I have a reader that can't do Adobe
DRM?

Can't find elsewhere?

Well, let's take a backlist paperback novel by a bestselling author before she became a bestseller. This book is not available in a local bookstore, and cannot be special ordered since it is out of print. The library *system* may have a copies floating around in it but since these books are 10-15 years old many have been damaged or lost, and the one branch that has a copy is in the tiny branch 20 miles away. I can go to Amazon and find a used book seller who will sell it to me--with creases and a coffeestain-- for $15.99 plus $3.99 s&h.

Or I can go to overdrive, click it up on my computer, and be reading it within minutes as long as there isn't a hold on it (and there is often is a hold on it, but I've never had to wait more than a few weeks for a book).

Books can be read on ADE so you don't need a reader that handles the DRM unless your eyes can't handle reading on a backlit screen.

(By which I mean to say my local digital library consortium has all Lisa Kleypas's backlist, and I've never seen the complete collection anywhere else. This is actually kind of unusual; it is more usual for the library to have books 3 and 5 of a given series and none other, but if you're ready to read book 3 or 5, it's there).

JSWolf
03-03-2010, 08:33 PM
Can't find elsewhere?

Well, let's take a backlist paperback novel by a bestselling author before she became a bestseller. This book is not available in a local bookstore, and cannot be special ordered since it is out of print. The library *system* may have a copies floating around in it but since these books are 10-15 years old many have been damaged or lost, and the one branch that has a copy is in the tiny branch 20 miles away. I can go to Amazon and find a used book seller who will sell it to me--with creases and a coffeestain-- for $15.99 plus $3.99 s&h.

Or I can go to overdrive, click it up on my computer, and be reading it within minutes as long as there isn't a hold on it (and there is often is a hold on it, but I've never had to wait more than a few weeks for a book).

Books can be read on ADE so you don't need a reader that handles the DRM unless your eyes can't handle reading on a backlit screen.

(By which I mean to say my local digital library consortium has all Lisa Kleypas's backlist, and I've never seen the complete collection anywhere else. This is actually kind of unusual; it is more usual for the library to have books 3 and 5 of a given series and none other, but if you're ready to read book 3 or 5, it's there).

Actually, you cannot go to Overdrive to get the eBook. Your library has to go to Overdrive to get it so then you can borrow it.

And the libraries here do have inter-branch loaning. So that item that's in the branch that's 20 miles away will eventually be delivered to the branch of my choice and put on hold for me.

DawnFalcon
03-03-2010, 08:40 PM
What is the advantage of getting your eBooks from your local library?

They're free to borrow.

But you won't find, in general, ebooks not on sale elsewhere. And some publishers, like Macmillian, refuse to let libraries lend out their ebooks.

Joykins
03-04-2010, 04:24 PM
Actually, you cannot go to Overdrive to get the eBook. Your library has to go to Overdrive to get it so then you can borrow it.

I go to the MD or DC overdrive site and point and click and a minute later I am reading, is what I meant.

And the libraries here do have inter-branch loaning. So that item that's in the branch that's 20 miles away will eventually be delivered to the branch of my choice and put on hold for me.

Eventually but either way it is a bit of a hassle. Also I just discovered that they no longer charge you to put something on hold. They used to!

JSWolf
03-04-2010, 04:28 PM
I go to the MD or DC overdrive site and point and click and a minute later I am reading, is what I meant.

Which is only what the respective libraries have decided to purchase.

Joykins
03-04-2010, 04:37 PM
Which is only what the respective libraries have decided to purchase.

True! But there is so much there to read if you like vampire romance and cliff notes!

craftyduchess
10-22-2013, 11:27 PM
Im From Philippines and im happy to be a part of the forum. I love books eversince I was a young child.I think it is inborn. I still love paperbacks but im ecstatic to discover the benefits of ebook. I have 2500+ books in my calibre library and counting:)

canuck100
10-26-2013, 07:26 PM
Most libraries use Overdrive for their ebook lending . . . .

My library (epl.ca) uses the following sources:
EBSCO eBooks
Freading
Overdrive
for books downloadable to my Kobo Aura.

ETA: Like FREADING because there is no limit on the number of copies the library can lend at one time. EBSCO and Overdrive have limits which means that a popular title needs to be placed "on hold" as one would for a regular print book.

SteveEisenberg
10-26-2013, 09:39 PM
What I was wondering about is if the library eBook offerings were something that might be unavailable some place else.

If you count https://openlibrary.org/, yes. However, those books are uncorrected scans. When I go to that web site, it says at the top of the home page:

Hello! The State of Pennsylvania is participating in our eBook lending program

So I suppose it is somehow funded by my tax dollars, just like the library down the street.

The closest example I can think of beyond this is when you pay an out of area fee to a library and live in another country where the set of marketed eBooks is somewhat different.

Perhaps there have been a very few ebooks where the library bought a long term license from Overdrive, and then the ebook stopped being marketed. If I notice one, maybe I'll remember to revive this thread when I find it.

Sydney's Mom
10-26-2013, 10:54 PM
Im From Philippines and im happy to be a part of the forum. I love books eversince I was a young child.I think it is inborn. I still love paperbacks but im ecstatic to discover the benefits of ebook. I have 2500+ books in my calibre library and counting:)

Welcome! I have had an ebook reader since late 2008, and love it and Mobileread more and more every year! And good move to start right off with caliber, which is the best thing since sliced bread!
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