Kindle gets Library books via Whispersync

[puffkin]

Still isn't working at my library. Ugh!!! I thought they were all supposed to go live by now

 

[RitaE]

Are you sure your library uses Overdrive? I just did a quick scan of the Reading PA library (which may or may not be your library I just went by your user info) and the subscribe to NetLibrary which is not the same thing as Overdrive.

The best thing to do would be to call your Library and ask.

If you have an Access PA sticker on your library card you can get a no cost card at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Otherwise, the cost is $35 a year.

 

[puffkin]

Are you sure your library uses Overdrive? I just did a quick scan of the Reading PA library (which may or may not be your library I just went by your user info) and the subscribe to NetLibrary which is not the same thing as Overdrive.

The best thing to do would be to call your Library and ask.

If you have an Access PA sticker on your library card you can get a no cost card at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Otherwise, the cost is $35 a year.

Yeah, the Reading/Berks County Library system does not use Overdrive. I work in Lancaster County though and have a library card here as well and their library does system does use Overdrive. It is still showing as "Coming Soon" on their page. I guess I will have to give them a call.

 

[mansionmama]

This is great! Thanks so much for the info, OP! My Kindle will get used a lot more now that I can use the library feature for free.

 

[puffkin]

Woot Woot

My library FINALLY went live around lunch time! I just checked out my first book and got on the waiting list for a few others I wanted! Can't wait.

And thanks to the PP who mentioned the Free Library of PHiladelphia. I am eligible so I requested a card from there too. Once that comes I have access to their catalog as well. So exciting

 

[MrsPete]

My library's main web page says it's offering it, but when I look at titles nothing is available, I have to put it on a wait or wish list. Maybe I'll try again in a week, if it's just rolling out there could be some bugs.

I think it's more about money and timing:

Libraries are in trouble. Ours is now open only Monday-Thursday. They have lots of books because they've been building those collections for years and years; however, e-books are still in their infancy, and libraries haven't yet built up their stocks.

At the same time, e-readers have really increased in popularity in the last 1-2 years (since the price came down to the $100 range), so more and more people are in competition for those few e-books.

I'm convinced that buying e-books /lending between friends is more realistic than borrowing from a library at this point. In future years, when hopefully libraries aren't so financially strapped, I suspect they'll make funding e-books a big priority.

 

[MrsPete]

ohhhh why am I so technically stupid! I think my DD would love a kindle...she is 11 and LOVES to read. She is in reading olympics...so she has to read certain books but loves to read all kinds of books...would this be smoething good for her>????? and how much will everything cost me ..like book downloads and stuff????

I've had my Kindle 3-4 years now, and I absolutely love it. I have over 600 books on it, and if I were buying a new one, I'd never consider any of its competitors.

For a child . . .

First, is she responsible and careful with her things? I ask because I know one middle-schooler who ruined her Kindle by stacking heavy books on top of it -- not a smart move. And on our recent scout trip, two of my girls had Kindles with them and CONSTANTLY left them lying on the floor (we were sleeping on the floor, and they left them by their sleeping bags). I told them several times to put them up on the mantle or the bookshelf, and finally I told them that IF someone stepped on a Kindle, there was to be no wailing and gnashing of teeth. Of course, these two girls are at the low-end of the maturity scale for their age-group; they treat their ipods and phones the same way, but a Kindle, being bigger and thinner, is more fragile and a little easier to ruin.

The least expensive Kindle is $114.
You should also plan on a protective case right up front; those vary in price. I keep mine in a quilted pouch -- similar to Vera Bradley -- but I'm super-careful with mine; if I carry it in a bag, I make sure it's up against something like a clipboard that's hard and protective. If I were getting it for a child, I'd definitely go with something like a "notebook" protector. I personally like to hold my "naked Kindle" and wouldn't like the bulk of the "notebook" around it. I have a friend, though, who likes her "notebook" because it makes the Kindle feel more like a book.
You might want a screen protector too. I don't have one, but I'm not 11 years old, and my Kindle is ALWAYS either in my hand or in its case. Or on its docking station being recharged in my bedroom bay window.

Once you have it . . .

The average book download is 9.99, but that varies widely. A best-selling author might demand (and get) 12.99 for her books -- but in those cases, the paper book tends to sell for 16.99 or so; the Kindle version is almost always less expensive. Books that've been out a while might sell for 2.99 or 6.99 -- it varies. Lots of books are available for free, and about half of them are enjoyable. Often an author puts out her "old book" for free in hopes that you'll like it and buy her new book at full price. And classics, which are old enough not to be copywrited, are available for free pretty much all the time. I've paid $16.99 for an uber-best seller that I was waiting to buy the minute it came out. I paid $14.99 for a three-book trilogy set and was pleased with the purchase.

You'll need to set up an account with Amazon.com, and it'll be hooked to your credit card. You can buy new books with one click. Is your child the type who'll understand that this isn't "free" and she should ask your permission before buying, or will she happily click-click-click you into the poorhouse? Even if you only "buy" free books, you must set up the account.

You are allowed to have up to 5 Kindles (or other devices) on the same account, so if you have an iPad and she has a Kindle, you can both read the latest best-seller at the same time.

Before you take the plunge, you should look at the Amazon.com site and see the free books that're available. Look over the course of several weeks because the free books change frequently. I tell new Kindle owners that anytime they see something that looks interesting, they should "buy it" fast because things don't always STAY free. Often authors put their new books up "for free" and once they're on the best-seller list, they start charging. I have a huge backlog of books that I've not yet touched.

Also, look at the content of the available books and see if there's enough for an 11-year old. I really don't know because I don't actively search for "young adult" books. Among the free books, you'll find mostly adult offerings. And you'll find some things not appropriate for an 11-year old. LOTS of "romance novels", bodice-ripper type books. And I did accidentally buy a gay sexually-graphic book without realizing what it was. At the same time, you'll find lots of Christian fiction, lots of mysteries/thrillers for free.

Things I love about my Kindle:

No bookshelves necessary. This alone is worth so much.
Ease of portability.
I can buy a book in the middle of the night.
Most books are less expensive than their paper counterparts (though more expensive than the library or used bookstores).
My books are "backed up" on Amazon.com; if my Kindle were lost or destroyed, I could get a new machine and download all my books without additional cost.
I like the dictionary feature better than I thought I would. Having two college degrees and having taught English for two decades, I'd like to think I have a pretty good vocabulary . . . but now that I can check a definition with just a click of a button, I find myself looking up definitions more often than I'd have expected, and I'm becoming more precise with my vocabulary. Whereas before, I'd have said, "I know the general meaning from context clues, and that's good enough", now I'm curious about the exact meaning. When I read a paper book, sometimes I find myself moving my thumb towards the "definition key" and feeling a pang of disappointment when I realize I can't get an instant definition. Two of my English-teacher friends have said the same thing.

My girls are teenagers, both in high school. I would trust them with a Kindle now. They'd not abuse my credit card. They take good care of their phones and ipods, so I feel sure they'd be good with a Kindle. When they were 11, I'm not sure I'd have made the same choice. Perhaps a good compromise would be a SHARED Kindle for the two of you? You retain complete purchasing control, and there's no question that she can't take a shared item to school. Then it could "become" hers as she grows older.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

I think it's more about money and timing:

Libraries are in trouble. Ours is now open only Monday-Thursday. They have lots of books because they've been building those collections for years and years; however, e-books are still in their infancy, and libraries haven't yet built up their stocks.

At the same time, e-readers have really increased in popularity in the last 1-2 years (since the price came down to the $100 range), so more and more people are in competition for those few e-books.

I'm convinced that buying e-books /lending between friends is more realistic than borrowing from a library at this point. In future years, when hopefully libraries aren't so financially strapped, I suspect they'll make funding e-books a big priority.

I suspect you are right. I was super excited about the kindle books becoming available at my library, but when I saw how few kindle books they have I was super disappointed! Every book I search for they don't have. I just ended up browsing throught what they had, and I found 1 book I was interested in.

The thing that bothers me about lending between friends is that you can only do it once per book. I really don't understand that. If I loan a book to my sister, then I can't loan it to my mom at a later date. If I had bought the actual paper copy of the book I could lend it as much as I wanted!

I still love my kindle! I just wish I could get more of the books I want from the library!

 

[Mickeypooh99]

ohhhh why am I so technically stupid! I think my DD would love a kindle...she is 11 and LOVES to read. She is in reading olympics...so she has to read certain books but loves to read all kinds of books...would this be smoething good for her>????? and how much will everything cost me ..like book downloads and stuff????

I am planning on buying my DS a kindle for his 11th birthday. He loves to read, and is good about taking care of his things. I have a leather cover for my kindle that opens like a book. It makes it feel more like a real book, and it protects it. It also has a light which I use a lot. I plan on getting that for DS too.

I'm thinking we will wind up spending around $150.00 not including books. He doesn't need the 3G, and I will get him one with the ads. My DS loves to read the classic stories, and those are mostly free from Amazon. Any other books he wants that aren't available from the library, he will have to buy for himself. I think I will hint around to Grandparents that he may like amazon gift cards for his birthday so he can buy some books.

 

[Praise2Him]

I downloaded some library books yesterday but I'm having problems so I was wondering if anyone could help me - ExPirateShopGirl & MrsPete seem very knowledgeable!

When I downloaded them my Kindle was upstairs with the wifi turned off, so I just downloaded them to my iPhone, planning to sync them with the Kindle later. When I tried to sync, they show up in my Archived Items, but when I try to download them nothing happens, and I get a message saying that it can't be downloaded at this time and if the problem continues, to reset my Kindle. I've reset it 3 times and it still won't work.

So then I thought, okay, I'll just bring my Kindle downstairs, turn it on and download it directly from Amazon. Unfortunately, when I go to my Library and try to deliver title, it only gives the option of my iPhone or Computer - my Kindle name is grayed out!

Can you only have them on one device at a time? Or am I doing something wrong?

If no one can help, I'll go to the Kindleboards, but thought I'd try here first! Thanks!

 

[MrsPete]

The thing that bothers me about lending between friends is that you can only do it once per book. I really don't understand that. If I loan a book to my sister, then I can't loan it to my mom at a later date. If I had bought the actual paper copy of the book I could lend it as much as I wanted!

I agree. And for the same reason. I can justify the idea of being able to lend it only to one person at a time, but if I get it back from my work friend, I should then be able to lend it to my church friend.

I suspect they want to limit it so that people won't be able to go on the internet and get essentially "anything" without paying. And if the ability to share e-books was unlimited, it'd take about 15 minutes for such websites to pop up.

I don't know where the fair point between "I should be able to lend the book I bought" and "We have to sell books to stay in business" falls. Lending a book one time is much too little. Unlimited lending is too much (after all, a paper book does have a lifespan -- it'll wear out eventually).

I downloaded some library books yesterday but I'm having problems so I was wondering if anyone could help me - ExPirateShopGirl & MrsPete seem very knowledgeable!

When I downloaded them my Kindle was upstairs with the wifi turned off, so I just downloaded them to my iPhone, planning to sync them with the Kindle later. When I tried to sync, they show up in my Archived Items, but when I try to download them nothing happens, and I get a message saying that it can't be downloaded at this time and if the problem continues, to reset my Kindle. I've reset it 3 times and it still won't work.

So then I thought, okay, I'll just bring my Kindle downstairs, turn it on and download it directly from Amazon. Unfortunately, when I go to my Library and try to deliver title, it only gives the option of my iPhone or Computer - my Kindle name is grayed out!

Can you only have them on one device at a time? Or am I doing something wrong?

If no one can help, I'll go to the Kindleboards, but thought I'd try here first! Thanks!

I'm shooting in the dark here: A couple times I've had trouble downloading multiple books. This has happened when I've gone onto Amazon.com for weeks and weeks, "buying" free books but not bothering to download them . . . and then I've tried to download a whole bunch at once. It seems that the Kindle gets a bit "hung up" (might be because mine is 3-4 years old and doesn't seem to be quite as spry as it once was). When that's happened, I've put it aside for a couple hours, and when I've come back to it, all has been well and the books have been downloaded.

Also, why are you downloading multiple library books at once? Don't you have a time limit on how long you can keep them? You may not be able to finish them before they're "due", and I think they'll just disappear from your Kindle at the end of the timeperiod.

Finally, do you realize that only one person can have the library e-book at once? Say the library buys 10 e-copies of the newest best-seller. When you check out one copy, only 9 copies are available for check-out. So by holding onto multiple books, you're preventing someone else from borrowing that book. People holding multiple library books (though they can only read one at a time) is one of the issues making it difficult for others to find library e-books to borrow.

 

[DCPrincess]

I just finished reading my first library book on the Kindle! Does anyone know how I could return it early (rather than keeping it for the 21 days) so that someone else could read it?

 

[ambgoph]

I just finished reading my first library book on the Kindle! Does anyone know how I could return it early (rather than keeping it for the 21 days) so that someone else could read it?

Go to Amazon - Manage My Kindle. Find the title of the book you want to return. On the right hand sign is a drop down that says Actions. Click on that and scroll to the Return this book.

 

[DCPrincess]

Go to Amazon - Manage My Kindle. Find the title of the book you want to return. On the right hand sign is a drop down that says Actions. Click on that and scroll to the Return this book.

Thank you so much! That worked perfectly. I kept trying to do it from my account on the library's website and didn't think to go to amazon. With the waitlists of people waiting for kindle ebooks I felt bad keeping one for 21 days that I was finished reading.

 

[roumic]

This is awesome! I have Kindle but in an effort to reduce expenses, I am trying to utilize library books also (since I could easily read 2-3 books a week). I already have Overdrive on my phone but it is just so small.

 

[NotUrsula]

I think it's more about money and timing:

Libraries are in trouble. Ours is now open only Monday-Thursday. They have lots of books because they've been building those collections for years and years; however, e-books are still in their infancy, and libraries haven't yet built up their stocks.

At the same time, e-readers have really increased in popularity in the last 1-2 years (since the price came down to the $100 range), so more and more people are in competition for those few e-books.

I'm convinced that buying e-books /lending between friends is more realistic than borrowing from a library at this point. In future years, when hopefully libraries aren't so financially strapped, I suspect they'll make funding e-books a big priority.

Just so that you know, as long as the Overdrive model remains the norm for popular ebooks, libraries will never "build up their stocks" of popular ebook titles in the way that they have been able to with hardcopy books. This is because we don't own them. (There are some academic publishers that will sell us perpetual rights to electronic monograph titles, but none of the "middleman" services have the right to do that.)

The way that Overdrive works is that the library pays a recurring access fee for access to a certain number of titles. Obviously, the more you get the more it costs, and frontlist titles have a higher fee than backlist titles. The mix of titles can be switched around by the administrator as she wishes, and it is normally done based on demonstated demand. Ex: If three titles by Suzanne Brockman circulate really well, you add more of her books to the mix and drop other titles that are not proving as popular. Because of the difficulty patrons tend to have in browsing Overdrive, the most common way to pick from the backlist is by author.

In situations where the library is part of a consortium, the consortium negotiates the desired number of titles and prices accordingly for their membership buy-in. Pricing for public libraries is set by the size of their service population; the more dense your population, the higher your fees.
Libraries can also pay an add'l fee to establish Max Access collections: those titles have no user limit on the license, so they will never have a waiting list.

The catch, of course, is that if funding is lost and the bill is not paid, the entire collection disappears. Every public librarian I know is moving heaven and earth to try to protect the funds that are earmarked to pay their Overdrive fees.

 

[MrsPete]

Just so that you know, as long as the Overdrive model remains the norm for popular ebooks, libraries will never "build up their stocks" of popular ebook titles in the way that they have been able to with hardcopy books. This is because we don't own them. (There are some academic publishers that will sell us perpetual rights to electronic monograph titles, but none of the "middleman" services have the right to do that.)

The way that Overdrive works is that the library pays a recurring access fee for access to a certain number of titles. Obviously, the more you get the more it costs, and frontlist titles have a higher fee than backlist titles. The mix of titles can be switched around by the administrator as she wishes, and it is normally done based on demonstated demand. Ex: If three titles by Suzanne Brockman circulate really well, you add more of her books to the mix and drop other titles that are not proving as popular. Because of the difficulty patrons tend to have in browsing Overdrive, the most common way to pick from the backlist is by author.

In situations where the library is part of a consortium, the consortium negotiates the desired number of titles and prices accordingly for their membership buy-in. Pricing for public libraries is set by the size of their service population; the more dense your population, the higher your fees.
Libraries can also pay an add'l fee to establish Max Access collections: those titles have no user limit on the license, so they will never have a waiting list.

The catch, of course, is that if funding is lost and the bill is not paid, the entire collection disappears. Every public librarian I know is moving heaven and earth to try to protect the funds that are earmarked to pay their Overdrive fees.

So it's a little like a movie rental store. They get in bunches of the new releases, and they clearance the stuff that's no longer moving. And this means that if you checked out, say, Watership Down today you couldn't count on it being available a year from now -- because the library might've replaced it with something newer, more popular. Interesting information.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I downloaded some library books yesterday but I'm having problems so I was wondering if anyone could help me - ExPirateShopGirl & MrsPete seem very knowledgeable!

When I downloaded them my Kindle was upstairs with the wifi turned off, so I just downloaded them to my iPhone, planning to sync them with the Kindle later. When I tried to sync, they show up in my Archived Items, but when I try to download them nothing happens, and I get a message saying that it can't be downloaded at this time and if the problem continues, to reset my Kindle. I've reset it 3 times and it still won't work.

So then I thought, okay, I'll just bring my Kindle downstairs, turn it on and download it directly from Amazon. Unfortunately, when I go to my Library and try to deliver title, it only gives the option of my iPhone or Computer - my Kindle name is grayed out!

Can you only have them on one device at a time? Or am I doing something wrong?

If no one can help, I'll go to the Kindleboards, but thought I'd try here first! Thanks!

What generation of Kindle do you have? The first and second generations are not compatible with wireless transfer of library books since they only have 3G and Amazon doesn't want to pay for data on a book they did not sell.

If you have the first or second generation you are going to have to download the book to the computer and then sideload it with the USB cord that came with your Kindle.

 

[webprinter]

I just called my local libarary today and they have no current plans to add Kindle books. Is there any other way to get Kindle books from another libarary not in the area?

 

[Mickeypooh99]

I just called my local libarary today and they have no current plans to add Kindle books. Is there any other way to get Kindle books from another libarary not in the area?

I would like to know this too, since my local library doesn't have a very good selection!