holstein13 Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 I've been full-timing for almost two years now and still make do with my Broward County Library card and online access to the e-books available from my county library but their selection is limited and I travel all over the country so I was wondering, what library can I and should I join? I'm looking to join a library that meets three criteria: Has easy to use online access. A large selection of e-books available to borrow. Doesn't have overly restrictive residency requirements. The residency requirements concern me because I realize these libraries are publicly funded and I don't want to use the public resources without contributing to the local tax base. I wouldn't mind paying a fee to join the library or even make a donation to help them out. If I regularly travel to an area, I'd consider myself eligible. Any suggestions are welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandsys Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Amazon Prime has a program where you can read many books for free. You can only "check out" ten at a time then you must return one to get another but that has not felt like a restriction to me. BookBub.com will send you an email every day with a list of free and cheap books in your favorite genres. I mostly get free ones there but occasionally pay for a book. You can have these books for as long as you want them. I delete most after I read them. ManyBooks.net was my source for free books for years before I discovered the two above. Most of their books are those whose copyright has expired but some current authors list their books there to develop a fan base. It's a great source for the classics. I have a library card but have never downloaded books from that source so can't speak about that. Linda Sand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budeneighe Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 The Freelibrary of Philadelphia had a senior free lifetime subscription offer awhile back. I got my library card and that is almost all we use anymore. It connects through Amazon kindle services and the Amazon Family Library service that lets us all share whatever either of us gets from wherever (Amazon, Freelibrary of Philly, Wake county Library, or several other public libraries). Orange county public library in Los Angeles has a terrific Elibrary. Non-residents can pay an annual fee to use it. Hoopla is available through many public libraries for free and includes not only books but videos, tv and radio programs, documentaries, etc. I think that the FreeLibrary added access to it this past year. Using all of these could be a real challenge if Amazon had not setup their cloud services to include access management for non-Amazon libraries. This is, by far, the easiest way to find, get and manage econtent. It handles Digital Rights Management (DRM) just fine and lets you read content on whatever device you may have. We use the Book Catalogue open source free library management app to keep track of what books we are looking for or might have seen and could later want to find. Just scan the ISBN # from your Smartphone and add it to one of your wish lists for later perusal. It uses many plugins including some that help with working through the DRM issues between different platforms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch_12078 Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 We have cards for a local library in upstate NY that gives us access to any member library in a large regional association. We also have cards for the huge NY City Public Library. The ebook access we have through the libraries, plus the free books from Amazon and the other sources keeps us well stocked with reading material. We manage our selections with the "Calibre E-Book Management" program that allows us to easily transfer books to our phones, tablets, and laptops via DropBox.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRum Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 Chicago Public Library is nice... You can register online for an account with any Chicago address... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWharton Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 freebookssy.combookbub.combargainbooksy.comereaderiq.compixelofink.combookbasset.comEach of these send me an email each day with selections based on my criteria. Most are free or .99. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holstein13 Posted January 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 We have cards for a local library in upstate NY that gives us access to any member library in a large regional association. We also have cards for the huge NY City Public Library. The ebook access we have through the libraries, plus the free books from Amazon and the other sources keeps us well stocked with reading material. We manage our selections with the "Calibre E-Book Management" program that allows us to easily transfer books to our phones, tablets, and laptops via DropBox.. I just looked up the Calibre E-Book Management program. Looks quite impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch_12078 Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 I just looked up the Calibre E-Book Management program. Looks quite impressive. It sure is that... And free to boot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigboomer Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 As residents of Livingston, Texas we are members of the Livingston Public Library and it gets us free online access to thousands of titles. We are also Amazon Prime and Bookbub members! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRP Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 The "the best public library for full-timers" is the Internet, no library card needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docj Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 Many public libraries around the US are tied into the e-book server at overdrive.com. South Dakota uses Overdrive and we plan on getting cards when we are there this summer to renew our drivers licenses. Getting library cards has been the one thing in SD that we've not been able to do online or via mail. I spoke with the librarian in Madison SD and she was adamant that we needed to appear in person to get cards. And most of us are old enough to know that you don't argue with the librarian or she'll rap your knuckles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57becky Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 There is always the Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWharton Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 I never thought about the Library of Congress so I visited the site. I couldn't find any ebooks, where do I look? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holstein13 Posted January 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 There is always the Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/ I think you need to be in Congress to get a library card at the Library of Congress. That's a bit too much effort for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WILDEBILL308 Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 I have ben using OVERDRIVE you can download the program and it will let you down load and read books from your library. You can add other libraries. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holstein13 Posted January 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 I have ben using OVERDRIVE you can download the program and it will let you down load and read books from your library. You can add other libraries. Bill And what library would that be? The problem is I live in a motorhome full-time. It's hard to get a library card when your drivers license shows an address of Green Cove Springs, FL. I called the public library there and they told me I have to be present to get a card. May be worth a trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryl&Rita Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 And what library would that be? The problem is I live in a motorhome full-time. It's hard to get a library card when your drivers license shows an address of Green Cove Springs, FL. I called the public library there and they told me I have to be present to get a card. May be worth a trip. Overdrive is a collective of libraries. Join in there, and get access to all the libraries in the collective. If Green Cove isn't a member, join any library close to you. They'll be more than happy to see you come in the door, and they won't care what your driver's license says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twotoes Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 I get daily emails from bookbub.com for books averaging only $2.99 or $1.99. You can download the book on iTunes or Android devices. I use my iPad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GR "Scott" Cundiff Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 My librarian wife says you want to use the library where you have your mailing address because most other libraries will only give you a temporary or visitor's card which will expire in a relatively short amount of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWharton Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 I have at least 6 cards that are valid. Once you have an invoice from the cg the libraries are willing to give you a card. After that you can just keep renewing them. I am talking about Houston, Phoenix and Tucson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rynosback Posted January 2, 2016 Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 We still have our MD library cards. We download books online. But these books expire in 3 weeks. So we bought a program, DRM Epub removal which makes it so you can keep them forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docj Posted January 3, 2016 Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 We still have our MD library cards. We download books online. But these books expire in 3 weeks. So we bought a program, DRM Epub removal which makes it so you can keep them forever. There are plugins for Calibre which will do the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holstein13 Posted January 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 Overdrive is a collective of libraries. Join in there, and get access to all the libraries in the collective. If Green Cove isn't a member, join any library close to you. They'll be more than happy to see you come in the door, and they won't care what your driver's license says. I looked up the Chicago Public Library, the New York City public library and the Los Angeles public library. All say you need to submit proof of residency to get a library card. Are you sure about dropping in on any library? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holstein13 Posted January 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 I have at least 6 cards that are valid. Once you have an invoice from the cg the libraries are willing to give you a card. After that you can just keep renewing them. I am talking about Houston, Phoenix and Tucson. That is a brilliant idea. Thanks. I'll try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg112 Posted January 3, 2016 Report Share Posted January 3, 2016 Overdrive is a collective of libraries. Join in there, and get access to all the libraries in the collective. If Green Cove isn't a member, join any library close to you. They'll be more than happy to see you come in the door, and they won't care what your driver's license says. Maybe I'm missing something on Overdrive. It asks me to select a library to view and check-out books but I need a valid card / login for that library and then I'm limited to that library. Works ok for me since I have current valid cards with several libraries (DOD libraries if you're eligible work great for fulltiming). Kind of a pain to logout / login of each when I'm looking for something. Is there a way to look for something in the collective then and check out using a valid home llbrary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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