Following a successful year long pilot, local libraries and those across the wider region are now offering an eBook loan service as a permanent part of the range of library services.
Anyone with a PC or laptop and a compatible portable device such as an eReader, smartphone or tablet can choose from a growing collection of over 3,000 eBooks.
Although the service is not compatible with the Kindle it can be used with a number of other leading products including the Kobo, Nook, Sony eReader, iPad, iPhone and Android devices.
The combined purchasing power of the five local authorities in the LibrariesWest consortium allows them to offer a collection of more than 3,000 eBooks to choose from across a range of genres, with new titles being added on a regular basis.
Library members can choose titles they wish to read for up to 21 days each by visiting www.librarieswest.org.uk. All titles can be borrowed and reserved for free, and loans automatically expire so there are no overdue charges to worry about. The service is free to all members across the five authorities in the LibrariesWest consortium.
Councillor David Dixon (Lib-Dem, Oldfield), Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “Bath & North East Somerset Council is always seeking new ways to improve its Library service and meet the changing needs and expectations of users. The eBook service is easy to use and available 24/7 across the UK – and best of all it’s free. Library users are now able to download and read eBooks at a time and place to suit them.”
New eBooks are being added to the collection all the time, and whilst many titles are not yet available for loan through public libraries the website offers a range of great titles, among them bestsellers by James Patterson, Lee Child, Stephen Fry, Jo Nesbo, Henning Mankell, John Grisham and Bill Bryson.
The collection also includes titles across a range of popular genres including biography, travel, computing and crafts.
As a result of user feedback they have increased the loan entitlement to 5 eBooks at a time and have added links to over 42,000 eBooks freely available from Project Gutenberg where you can find thousands of titles by classic authors including Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy among others.
