How many e-books does your library offer?

[HomeInMyShoes]

Thanks John F. 51,659 for my library so add in Freading and there's more than 67,000 titles for my library.

[PurpleStar]

Edmonton Public Library:

OverDrive Read(21123)
EPUB eBook(21060)
Open EPUB eBook(607)
PDF eBook(5035)
Open PDF eBook(241)

Plus it has Freading.

It's not bad. I'm going to try using it more than buying.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^I use my library a lot, but mainly for paper. Most of what I read just isn't available in eBooks. I could get more mileage if I listened to audio books but I haven't gone that way yet.

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^I use my library a lot, but mainly for paper. Most of what I read just isn't available in eBooks. I could get more mileage if I listened to audio books but I haven't gone that way yet.

I sometimes borrow paper books in the summer time. Now in the winter just read ebooks.

[HomeInMyShoes]

I'm the opposite. There's something about the crazy weather that makes me think using my eReader in freeze/thaw cycles would kill it prematurely. I ride the bus and read on the bus a lot so stuff ends up being outside.

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

I'm the opposite. There's something about the crazy weather that makes me think using my eReader in freeze/thaw cycles would kill it prematurely. I ride the bus and read on the bus a lot so stuff ends up being outside.

It's better in winter for me with the ereaders. I have a hard time reading ebooks outside in the summer. Heat seems to be worse than cold for them at least in my experience.

[HomeInMyShoes]

For some reason I am thinking we live in vastly different areas of the country.

[ottdmk]

The Ottawa Public Library apparently has 21145 e-pubs available. It also has 5576 PDFs, but most of those are probably duplicates of e-pubs.

[radius]

Originally Posted by ottdmk

The Ottawa Public Library apparently has 21145 e-pubs available. It also has 5576 PDFs, but most of those are probably duplicates of e-pubs.

Strange... When I visit the Ottawa library's on-line book catalog it says a little over 34k epubs.

[ottdmk]

It's entirely possible that the search I did was flawed in some manner. I'll happily go with the larger figure.

[Respigi]

I live in a small town in NSW Australia and the Council library tells me there are about 3000 ebooks obtainable from them along with a heap of other stuff like magazines, audio books, news papers. etc.

[meeera]

In many (most?) Australian places, you can join your State ebook library with a local library membership.

I'm in Western Australia. Our State Overdrive library has 26 900 epub, 6097 PDF, 27132 Overdrive Read. Fiction epubs 17 676, Nonfiction epubs 4 726. And 341 audiobooks.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

snip...

My actual local library (Hennepin County MN) is launching it's ebooks on July 19th (2010) with 700 titles.

My libraries collection has grown quite a bit from that original 700.

The current selection stands at 108,416 eBooks and 17,471 audiobooks. The audiobook section took a big drop when OverDrive dropped WMA books.

[Katsunami]

In the Netherlands, the libraries now offer "thousands" of e-books. I haven't tried to find a specific number; I don't even know if it's given anywhere. Last time I checked though, you had to use the 'official' app to read the books on a tablet or phone. It was not possible to read books on an e-reader.

This is a dealbreaker for me. Not because I refuse to read on a tablet (I *DON'T* read on phones, *EVER*), but because of the fact that a tablet is shiny and hard to read in bright daylight. As someone who travels by public transport, I do a lot of my reading outside or in buses/trains. (edit: on one of the pages, they now state that e-readers can be used. They have a manual for Sony readers and Digital Editions. Possibly this manual works for Kobo and other readers in combination with Digital Editions as well.)

Another dealbreaker is that most of the e-books are in Dutch; either native, or translated. There are very few e-books in English.

Also, the membership and costs of borrowing are quite high; they are actually high enough that I can *BUY* the books and still be cheaper, especially when shopping around and/or using Kobo coupons. (It can be said that I don't read enough to make a library worthwhile. I only read around 30-35 books a year, but most of them would be 500 to 1000 pages long in a hardcover version.)

[Tarana]

My library (Anoka County, MN, USA) offers thousands of ebooks, but very few science fiction or fantasy (outside of paranormal romance). They are great if you enjoy mysteries and crime/thrillers by popular authors. The Minneapolis system has much more, but since I am not a resident there, I don't have access.

Audiobooks are kindof the same way, although if the library had an extensive CD collection of a series, they are continuing to only get it via CD (In Death series by JD Robb is example). Apparently, we who get those CDs are careful with them - replacement is rare.