.. if not, you’re not alone. A recent Pew Research study finds that 62% of respondents were completely unaware whether their local branches offered ebooks on loan. This may also have to do with just how far out of favour libraries have become as go-to sources of new books, as 75% of respondents say they go to a book store or online to look up new books. And to be blunt, since most ereaders are sold at commercial book stores, it’s not surprising that Amazon and Barnes and Noble aren’t going out of their way to mention the free books.
But credit where credit is due, all major forms of book readers allow for borrowed books from the library. And both the Monroe County library system and the Rochester Public Library offer fairly extensive collections of books through a service called Overdrive. OverDrive boasts 650,000 titles from a variety of publishers, and seems to be one of the larger service providers for schools, libraries and colleges. Their resource page shows what devices – PC, Mac, mobile and tablet – support what formats, for your convenience.
So if you’re an avid reader like me and would like to save a few bucks on that summer reading library, it might be worth checking out your local *actual library* for great books, for just the cost of a library membership… which is free also.
2 replies on “Rochester and Monroe County libraries offer ebooks on loan. Do you use them?”
I use Overdrive a ton. For eBooks & audiobooks. Also, as NYS residents, we get access to the NYC public library system with even more books available to be downloaded over the interwebs.
Its really an awesome service that I think is grossly underappreciated.