The library has a collection of Nook and Kindles preloaded with material. A listing of the available devices with lists of the titles they contain is available in our library catalog . You can also browse a listing of all the titles we have available in ebook format. Some of these titles are available for online download while others are on devices that you borrow from the library.
More than 205 New Hampshire public libraries, including the Lane Memorial Library, have joined in a consortium to offer ebook and digital audiobook titles through the Overdrive. The New Hampshire Downloadable Books Consortium has made thousands of titles available, for all ages and in all genres.
With your library card you have full access to this growing collection of ebooks. After setting up an account you can download ebooks to read on your computer, transfer to your ereader, or read directly on your mobile device. This e-library is open 24/7, and with your barcode number and an email account, you can place a hold on any ebook that is currently checked out.
NH Downloadable Books , the official blog of the NH Downloadable Books Service, features slideshows to help you get started, lists of the latest ebook purchases, personal reviews of various portable devices, and a forum for you to ask your downloadable ebook questions and get a quick reply. And of course, we’re always here to help you in person, too. Just call or come in today, and bring your new gadget with you!
Note about the confidentiality of your borrowing records in regards to downloadable ebooks:
Downloading electronic content from the NH Downloadable Books Consortium (NHDB) may compromise user confidentiality expectations as outlined in RSA 201-D:11 Library User Records; Confidentiality .
Functionality of the NHDB service is provided by Overdrive (www.overdrive.com) in agreement with many partnering vendors to provide down-loadable content to a wide variety of devices and platforms. By creating accounts with third party vendors (e.g. Amazon or Adobe) to download these materials, you may be allowing the vendors to store data about your reading/listening habits and download history via the Overdrive service.
By continuing e-content downloads via NHDB, you acknowledge acceptance of both the Overdrive terms of use as well as the possible compromise of the confidentiality of the library records generated by your e-content downloads.
Free eBooks for the Blind and Visually Impaired
The New Hampshire State Library, through its Talking Books division, is pleased to announce that individuals who are blind or visually impaired, or who have a physical disability that does not allow them to handle printed reading material may now download audio and braille books to their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch through a new, free mobile application, the Braille and Audio Reading Download, known as BARD.
BARD allows readers to download audio and Braille books from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped's collection. Almost 50,000 books, magazines, and music scores in audio and Braille formats are currently available through BARD, with new selections added daily.
In addition to making audio books available on iPhones, iPads and iPod touches, BARD allows New Hampshire Talking Book patrons to access printed material by using Bluetooth technology to connect to a refreshable Braille display to those portable devices. Previously, they relied on heavy Braille-printed books or bulky playback equipment for their reading material.
"Downloadable digital audio and e-books are very popular at New Hampshire's libraries, and now our Talking Books patrons can also use today's technology to enjoy a wide variety of reading materials," said State Librarian Michael York. "We're very pleased that this service is available for them."
To use BARD, New Hampshire patrons must be registered with the state's Talking Book Services and will need to download the BARD app from the Apple App store; they then access materials from the National Library Service's BARD site https://nlsbard.loc.gov/login//NLS.
The National Library Service is also working on an app for Android devices.
To learn more about the BARD mobile app and other services provided by the New Hampshire Talking Book Services, please contact the State Library's Talking Books division at (603) 271-3429 or toll-free (800) 491-4200 or visit www.nh.gov/nhsl/talking_books.
Free eBook Websites
There are dozens of sites on the Internet where you can download free ebooks. Many are older books that are now in the public domain, but there are other sites as well that offer new books, although you won't find popular new titles for free. Some of the better ones are:
- Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg offers over 36,000 free ebooks to download to your PC, Kindle, Android, iOS or other portable device. Choose between ePub, Kindle, HTML and simple text formats.
- Google Books Books in the public domain are available in "full view" and free for download. For in-print books, Google limits the number of viewable pages but much of the content is still readable online. Older issues of popular magazines are also available here.
- The Internet Archive The Internet Archive Text Archive contains a wide range of fiction, popular books, children's books, historical texts and academic books.
- Bartelby Excellent source for classic texts.
- Just Free Books A search engine that allows you to search more than 700 free book websites.
- Scribd Sometimes called the Youtube for documents. Millions of documents and books uploaded by people the world over.