Thank goodness for the New York Public Library. There are about a million reasons to be grateful for libraries, but over the last month or so I’ve discovered a new one: e-books.
Yes, I know e-books have been around for a while now. I’ve had an e-reader for four years and I actually really like e-books. They’re great for when you want a new book RIGHT NOW and you don’t happen to standing in a bookstore. Or when you finish a book and the sequel is already out. But the problem with that ease and accessibility, of course, is that it leads to impulse buying, and impulse buying leads to me spending way too much money on books when I have a stack at my desk I’ve been meaning to read — one of the joys and perils in working in publishing.
I’ve known for ages that it’s possible to get books out of the library and download them onto an e-reader. It always seemed like a good idea, but a pain in practice — it involved downloading a client to my laptop and then hooking my Nook up to my laptop. I think Kindles are a little better configured for this, but I don’t have one anymore.
What I do have, though, courtesy of my dad’s old work’s Christmas raffle a year ago, is a Nook tablet. And as of a month ago, that tablet now has two awesome e-book apps: Overdrive and 3M. They let me borrow e-books from the New York Public Library (and the Brooklyn one, once I add my Brooklyn card) anywhere I have a wifi signal. It’s not much harder than buying from the Nook store, and it’s FREE.
Guys, I can’t stress this enough: All my impulse e-book buys are now free. Yes, occasionally they won’t have the book I’m looking for, or I’ll have to put it on hold, but then there are plenty of others I can get right away. I think I’ve read somewhere around fifteen e-books (maybe more!) since making this discovery, and I couldn’t be happier. I just found out that Meg Cabot’s adult romance novels just were reissued in e-book, and I found them all from the library. Guess what I’m reading next!
You may not have a tablet, but since you aren’t me, it’s probably safe to assume you have a smartphone. If you haven’t already, download the Overdrive and 3M library apps and link them up to your local library. Your credit card — and your library! — will thank you! I’ll still spend plenty of money on books, because just like with my favorite TV shows, reading is an addiction for me, but now I can read even more books and not feel guilty about spending so much on them.
Do you read e-books? Have you fallen in love with library apps?
January 23, 2015 at 5:50 pm
Yeah … the moment I figured out how to do eBooks through the library, my life changed. And even though I’m in PA, I still have my NYPL card. Probably not the best thing to admit but I check both library systems for the same book. Just in case :)
January 24, 2015 at 12:19 pm
I had no idea you could do this. I love having books on my phone — it makes it so much easier for reading on cramped subway journeys! Thanks for sharing the tip!
January 24, 2015 at 2:23 pm
No problem! It’s so useful! And looks like I forgot to mention, unless you renew it, the book just disappears at the end of three weeks, so no late fees. But you can set it to remind you to renew, too.
January 27, 2015 at 1:29 pm
I so love how you can place books on reserve too, so even if it’s not on ebook, chances are you can at least place a reserve on the actual hardcopy…that way saving a lot of time at the library perusing, and just run in and pick it up when it’s ready!
January 27, 2015 at 4:41 pm
Yes!! Makes life so much easier.