Amazon Prime and eBooks

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by xendula

WOW! And I thought I was extreme! Do they all have ebooks?

You know, monkey see, monkey do....

[medard]

I use Onleihe.

A user on the french forum wrote that Québec Library BANQ uses Overdrive. But you can find their frankophone section here. Maybe this is new, I don't know. I have no idea how french or belgian libary systems work. I didn't even know anything about Overdrive untill today..

[xendula]

Originally Posted by medard

I use Onleihe.

A user on the french forum wrote that Québec Library BANQ uses Overdrive. But you can find their frankophone section here. Maybe this is new, I don't know. I have no idea how french or belgian libary systems work. I didn't even know anything about Overdrive untill today..

For US libraries, check out this page for libraries that allow remote sign-up, then go to the individual links to see which of the ones have the type of books you like to read or listen to.

[medard]

Thanks a lot, xendula. I'll have a look now.

Austin, Brooklyn, or Philadelphia.. Difficult..

[xendula]

Originally Posted by medard

Thanks a lot, xendula. I'll have a look now.

Austin, Brooklyn, or Philadelphia.. Difficult..

Or all three

BTW, I still can't find any French books on the Quebec site. What you sent me is their page toggled in French view vs. English view. I guess I need to know which of the systems have them, as they list a whole bunch of diffent databases, but for most you need a log-in, before you can see the collection. Ovdrive only shows the same 7 French books all libraries have in French: the H. potter series.

Still looking...

[medard]

For me it's Brooklyn. 100% sure. I just looked up some stuff, and they have tons of books about this. This is going to be very funny. I thought Austin might be cooler. I always wanted to be a nice cowboy.

But now it's going to Brooklyn..

When I click this in Québec, I can see some frankophone books, and the page is in french. But this might depend on your computer system or internet settings, in Belgium or Switzerland they always try (and always fail) to give you "your" version automatically.

So, I can see fascinating books like this one, but when I click on it, they want me to login to the system. So, obviously they have frankophone books there. Somehow..

[Bob B]

Originally Posted by sirmaru

That is the catch and it applies to public libraries as well. I have never finished an eBook in 14 days. I read 2 eBooks at one time and it takes me up to 2 to 3 months to finish them.

That is why I BUY all my eBooks. My wife borrows from the Amazon Lending Library (1.7 million eBooks) and buys the free ones (55,000 eBooks).

However, I slant my purchases to the most pages per bucks I pay which excludes the short eBooks and the expensive ones.

Is 14 days the standard for borrowing? That is the max for my local library. It can be frustrating to have to renew (and hope nobody has a hold) 3/4 of the way through a book.

[kennyc]

Mine offers 7, 14, 21

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Bob B

Is 14 days the standard for borrowing? That is the max for my local library. It can be frustrating to have to renew (and hope nobody has a hold) 3/4 of the way through a book.

It varies, but 14 days is the usual. My library will only give me 3 days to pick it up; some libraries give you a week, I think.

You can certainly express interest in longer check-out times. When I worked at the library, they would consider patron input.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm a little curious about this idea of "cards". You mean you have a physical piece of card? What do you need it for? I've never borrowed an eBook from a library, but I always imagined that it was a purely online process.

Yes, I have a physical card for each library. In order to set up or activate an account, you need to physically go to a branch library and produce ID. To qualify for an account, you need to prove where you live. A driver's license usually suffices, but sometimes they want additional proof like a utility bill.

Most of the libraries in Washington have reciprocal borrowing, so your first step is to get a library card from your "home library". Then start getting cards from reciprocal libraries. The borrowing process is strictly online; but every so often, you need to actually visit a library in order to renew your card.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by xendula

WOW! And I thought I was extreme! Do they all have ebooks?

Yes; that's why I do it.

Here are the libraries I use most and the size of their ebook collections:

• Seattle Public Library -- 47,486
• King County Library -- 24,738
• Sno-Isle Libraries -- 15,750
• Pierce County Library -- 13,719
• Timberland Library -- 9,917

For comparison, here are the collections of a few other popular ones:

• ClevNet Library -- 46,210
• Brooklyn Public Library -- 33,952
• Free Library of Philadelphia -- 13,063

The primary advantage for multiple cards is being on multiple waiting lists. Then when it becomes available at one, I cancel the others. Additionally, some libraries carry books the others don't.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Bob B

Is 14 days the standard for borrowing? That is the max for my local library. It can be frustrating to have to renew (and hope nobody has a hold) 3/4 of the way through a book.

My libraries default to 21 days. You can change it to 7 or 14 days if you want.

[medard]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Here are the libraries I use most and the size of their ebook collections..

Where can I see this?

As an evil and greedy foreigner, I'd like to have the largest US-american libary, of course. I'd like to know if there's an even larger libary than Brooklyn available for foreigners.

Austin isn't availble anymore for foreigners, I checked that. You need to be there in person..

Spoiler:

Would have been so cool...

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by medard

Where can I see this?

As an evil and greedy foreigner, I'd like to have the largest US-american libary, of course. I'd like to know if there's an even larger libary than Brooklyn available for foreigners.

Austin isn't availble anymore for foreigners, I checked that. You need to be there in person..

I believe Brooklyn is the largest available to you.

To find out how large a particular library's ebook collection is, go to its OverDrive page and look at the options on the side. Under eBooks or Collections, look for "View all eBooks" and click it. Then near the top (just above the first book) look for "Search results". It'll say 1 -10 of xxxxx. That's the number of ebooks that library has. You can also filter your results by genre.

Don't forget, some libraries have better collections of ebooks you're interested in than others; so the most ebooks isn't always the best option.

[xendula]

So jealous of Seattle!! I so want a Seattle card now!
The multiple waiting lists is why I have several as well, and the fact that there are some books only one of the libraries will carry.