Library ebooks for beginners?

March 18, 2020 3:18 PM

I have an ancient Kindle (Touch, circa 2011), a Los Angeles library card, and a desire for library ebooks to appear on the Kindle. How do I do this? Explain it like I'm your great-great-aunt.
posted by BlahLaLa to Technology (6 answers total)

1. Download Libby on your phone or tablet.
2. Open up Libby, and register your LA library card.
3. Find a book that you want to borrow. There are different collections you can browse, or you can search.
   • If a title only gives you the option to place a hold, that means it’s out on loan, but you can get in line to borrow it by placing a hold. Libby will tell you approximately how long you’ll have to wait.
4. Once you’ve found a book, borrow it—there will be an option to read it in Libby, or send it to your Kindle. Choose the Kindle option.
   
5. Libby will prompt you to log in to Amazon, so that it can coordinate sending your book to your Kindle.
   
6. Make sure your Kindle is connected to Wi-Fi, and your book will magically appear.
   
7. Read!

posted by vitout at 3:31 PM on March 18, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: This page is the instructions for Overdrive to get a book onto your Kindle.

You don't have to use an app on a device - you can use the LAPL version of the Overdrive website: https://lapl.overdrive.com/
posted by soelo at 3:34 PM on March 18, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Okay, I *really* should have tried solving this before I wasted a question, 'cause yeah, the Overdrive tutorial was totally straightforward and I managed it easily. Never mind!
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:34 PM on March 18, 2020 [1 favorite]

For future reference: you don't have to limit yourself to reading on a kindle. I've never owned a kindle and I read library e-books and e-books I've bought on a pc laptop or chromebook. My current public library uses something called RB digital and I had to get an android app to read on my android-compatible chromebook.

When I get e-books through Amazon I read them on a free "kindle reader" download that I got a while back from amazon. They have it for both PCs and Macs.
posted by mareli at 8:24 PM on March 18, 2020

As a side note, here in Ohio a state resident can get a library card from any other library in the state. Many let you get one online. I have cards for five libraries, so I can usually find what I'm looking for available.
posted by slogger at 11:45 AM on March 19, 2020

You don't even need to use Libby or Overdrive if you are more comfortable using the catalog on a computer. You can usually check out an e-book right from the book record. When prompted to download the book, it may ask you which format you want (Kindles use .mobi) and then it may possibly (it does in my system, LA might be slightly different) take you directly to a check out page from Amazon, where you can just click 'send to my kindle'. When done reading, you can 'return' the book from your kindle. Or it'll return itself after the borrowing period is over.
posted by lovecrafty at 1:07 PM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]