My dear fellow eBook readers, if you have not yet discovered the Libby app, I have some excellent news for you. With just your library card, Libby allows you to access hundreds of eBooks in seconds. It’s super easy, and best of all it’s free.
I realize this sounds like an ad, but it’s not. This is not sponsored in any way, I just think this app is fantastic, and you should all know about it.
The Libby app allows you to check out eBooks from your chosen library and send them straight to your Kindle. You can also read them directly on your phone if that’s more your style.
The eBooks follow the usual library rules. They’re yours for two weeks, or however long your library allows. Some libraries will renew your loan automatically if you don’t return the book in time. When the hold is up, Libby just sends the book back to the library.
Libby also allows you to borrow library audiobooks. The app may as well have been the unofficial sponsor of many long road trips down I-5. The audiobooks play directly from the app, and it’s easy to get the book you want and get it playing in your car or in headphones in moments.
The availability of books depends on your library, but if Libby doesn’t have a book you want, they have a feature where you can “tag” the book to let your library know that people are interested in that book. If all the copies of an eBook are checked out, you can put it on hold, just like physical books at the library. For popular new releases, these holds can often be a long wait, but they will come through eventually. It definitely requires some patience, but it’s also so exciting when that hold comes through for the book you have been waiting on for weeks.
Libby is amazing for many of the same reasons libraries themselves are amazing. I started relying heavily on Libby and Kindle Unlimited after my brother decided one Thanksgiving to calculate how much money I spent on books that year, given how much I read. It was an astounding number. “This is why you have credit card debt, dumbass,” he said.
Kindle Unlimited is great, but it usually doesn’t have the popular new releases. Libby fills in those gaps. I rarely have to actually buy a book, unless it’s really good and I need the trophy for my shelf. It has saved me a significant amount of money.
Libby is also a great way to support your local library. Libraries are such an important part of every community, and they allow reading of all kinds to be accessible to everyone. If your book budget is killing your bottom line, Libby is the solution you can feel good about.
Leave a Reply