The Library is now offering eBooks to enhance access to material available to members. In the Member Survey carried out earlier this year, nearly 60% of respondents expressed an interest in using eBooks. Equally, the Coronavirus situation has reinforced the importance of online content at a time when accessing physical collections can be more difficult. Our online journals and resources are already very heavily used by members.
We are working with OverDrive to extend into eBooks, and we have identified a number of titles that are in high demand in the Library and have purchased additional copies as eBooks. We have also purchased some fiction and non-fiction that we see circulating quite highly in the Library, such as books which have been nominated for, or won, awards of various kinds. Additionally, we have included a set of classics that are being made freely available by Duke Classics during the pandemic.
Members can access our eBook selection either through the OverDrive website, or through an app called Libby. Through the OverDrive website, members are welcome to make recommendations regarding new eBooks for the Library to acquire from the entire OverDrive catalogue, similar to our book suggestions scheme. This function is not yet available in the Libby app.
To start using our eBooks, download the Libby app, or go to londonlibrary.overdrive.com. With the Libby app, search for and select ‘The London Library’ and you will be able to log in using your membership number and PIN. With the website you can simply click on ‘Sign in’ and then enter your membership number and PIN.
You may ‘borrow’ up to 10 eBooks at any one time, and these are separate from and additional to your London Library loans. Loans are for 14 days, and you can renew and place holds, and configure how you want notifications to come from OverDrive regarding your account. Your eBooks will not appear on Catalyst, so you will need to search OverDrive separately from our print collection.
