I love my Kindle, but paying to download ebooks can get ridiculously expensive. Although the Kindle offers a few limited time free ebooks every week, the majority of the books for sale cost almost as much as their printed counterparts.
To save money, I like to check out free ebooks using the OverDrive service through my public library. OverDrive is currently the leading ebook digital distribution service in the United States, offering over 650,000 premium digital titles from more than 1,000 publishers, including Random House, HarperCollins, BBC Audiobooks America, Harlequin, and Bloomsbury.
I’m not sure if all libraries work the same way, but my library allows for a maximum of two ebooks per account checked out at one time. If the book I want isn’t available, I can sign up on a list to be notified when it’s returned. So far, I’ve never had to wait more than a month to get access to a title.
Ebooks are automatically removed from my Kindle when they’re due, so I don’t have to worry about incurring any fines from overdue books. I also like that I can check out Kindle books whenever I want without having to schedule a trip to the library.
One thing I like about OverDrive is that they’re rapidly expanding the selection of children and young adult books. My son enjoys using my Kindle and the main reason I’d been holding off on getting him his own e-reader was the lack of affordable reading options for his age group. The growing OverDrive selection makes the idea of a Kindle for Christmas seem much more appealing.
Do you check out free ebooks from your local library? If so, what do you think of the selection your library offers?
Photo credit: OverDrive
