Non-Resident Library Cards

[tubemonkey]

Out of curiosity, how many libraries does everyone belong to? free? paid? And do you subscribe to any other book subscriptions (Kindle Unlimited, Audible, Scribd, etc)?

I only listen to audiobooks and my primary source is the public library. I belong to six free libraries, three of which have very large collections. I don't like paying for books, so I don't belong to any paid subscription services.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Out of curiosity, how many libraries does everyone belong to? free? paid? And do you subscribe to any other book subscriptions (Kindle Unlimited, Audible, Scribd, etc)?

I only listen to audiobooks and my primary source is the public library. I belong to six free libraries, three of which have very large collections. I don't like paying for books, so I don't belong to any paid subscription services.

I was a Scribd member for about 2 years, but recently unsubscribed. I do like the service but wasn't using it enough to be worth it. I only used for audio since you can't read their e-books on an e-ink device, and now that I have expanded my libraries figuring it would save money.

Been a member of Kindle Unlimited for years, which I do enjoy and use often. I don't plan to get rid of this.

Audible Premium Plus with a yearly fee. They have their streaming catalogue and favorites or deals I purchase with credits or cash. The seasonal sales can be fun. Usually save credits for buy 2 for 1, etc., depending. Also works well with free narration on some of the Kindle Unlimited titles.

After doing digging this weekend based on this thread (okay, over 10 hours of looking), in Florida I now belong for libraries:

Free
Local library of Polk County Library Coorperative -has a little over 14,000 ebooks
Southeast Florida Municipal Libraries Digital Consortium (from Delray Beach)- has 9,000 e-books on Overdrive
Broward County Library - has 52,677 ebooks on Overdrive
Citrus County Library System (From Floral Library) that's in reciprocal system in my county) - has 9,905 e-books from Overdrive
Osceola County Library System - Only has the horrible Cloud Reader so I don't think I'll be borrowing from this one ever unless desperate to use

Paid
Ohio Digital Library - Has 152, 332 e-books for 30.00 a year

I haven't figured out how many audiobooks each has, but while I enjoy audiobooks for select genres, it is not my primary reading. All the libraries I sub to seem to have Hoopla also, so Hoopla will be a secondary source of Audio.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Out of curiosity, how many libraries does everyone belong to? free? paid? And do you subscribe to any other book subscriptions (Kindle Unlimited, Audible, Scribd, etc)?

I only listen to audiobooks and my primary source is the public library. I belong to six free libraries, three of which have very large collections. I don't like paying for books, so I don't belong to any paid subscription services.

I belong to the three NYC library systems--NYPL, BPL, and Queens--for free and have a paid nonresident card for Charlotte Mecklenburg.

When there's a free trial on offer, I join KU, mostly to pick up a cheap Whispersync title from Audible every once in a while.

I also have an annual membership at Audible.

[Fbone]

After much searching, I cannot find any more libraries that will permit non-resident cards remotely. It seems Little Rock, Arkansas (previously posted) was the last I could find.

And I searched dozens of the larger library systems. I went through every town in Suffolk County to see if one would allow access to the very large (200,000+) Livebrary network. Next, I investigated whether NYPL's digital access is available to Brooklyn card holders. Unfortunately, you must be a NY state resident and actually be present in the state when setting up the SimplyE app. No loopholes.

Caution: Some libraries will not allow non-residents to download digital items. Before signing up, please, make sure their policy hasn't changed like it did in MN, NM and Tampa.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Caution: Some libraries will not allow non-residents to download digital items. Before signing up, please, make sure their policy hasn't changed like it did in MN, NM and Tampa.

If you can get the card legitimately, you may be able to get around that by using a VPN to connect to the eBook library for downloading. What states are available will depend on the VPN you use. I checked mine (Private Internet Access) and it has 45+ states.

If that works, it could pretty simple. For example, PIA has an extension for Chrome (should also work in Firefox and Edge), so you can access the eBook library in your browser with the VPN turned on and check out eBooks. It'd be really easy with Kindle eBooks, because once it's passed on to Amazon the library has no control over it. Amazon handles distribution and deletion after the lending period is over.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Fbone

And I searched dozens of the larger library systems. I went through every town in Suffolk County to see if one would allow access to the very large (200,000+) Livebrary network.

I would love to have access to Livebrary. It annoys me that the three NYC library systems offer free cards to all New York State residents/workers, but other library systems in the state restrict access to their own local areas.

[JBaby]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Out of curiosity, how many libraries does everyone belong to? free? paid? And do you subscribe to any other book subscriptions (Kindle Unlimited, Audible, Scribd, etc)?



I only listen to audiobooks and my primary source is the public library. I belong to six free libraries, three of which have very large collections. I don't like paying for books, so I don't belong to any paid subscription services.

I have seven OverDrive eCards, but that will be six once my BPL card expires in January. I’ve paid for BPL and Stark for a total of $80.

I have a $143.80 2yr Kindle Unlimited sub. I had my first renewal in 2021. I know many don’t like KU, but I love it. I use it to supplement library holds. Many times I can find Big5 books on KU so I won’t check them out from the library. I read enough to justify the 5.99 a month.

I have Audible, but I don’t pay monthly. I buy my 12 credits once a year for $149.50 or $12.46 per credit. I’m canceling it next year though. My plan is to always cancel the year my KU membership is up for renewal. I love Whispersync for Voice. That’s Amazon’s Killer feature IMO. Even if I didn’t have Audible I’d still have it because my Mom is addicted to audiobooks and she doesn’t want to wait so checking out audiobooks from the library isn’t for her. We read almost all of the same genres so she’d buy anything I wanted. She has the $229.50 24 credits a year plan. That’s $9.56 per credit and she’s buys the daily deals often. We have an Amazon Household and between us we have over 1300 books. What I do is choose one of my Audible and checkout the Kindle ebook. I love being able to pick up where I left off.

I’ve never had Scribd. I don’t like their model. And I don’t want to read novels in an app since I have a Kindle.

On occasion I will subscribe to ComiXology Unlimited. I’ve subscribed twice this year. The first time was in March and it was a free one month trial. I read most of my comics/graphic novels through KU, OverDrive, and Hoopla. For instance in July I resubscribed to CU because my comic book club read Paper Girls Vol. 1-6, Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1-4, and House of Slaughter Vol. 1. CU only had Paper Girls Vol. 1. I read the rest through Overdrive/Libby. None of my OverDrive libraries had Something is Killing the Children, CU had Vol. 1-3 but not 4 so I had to read the single issues 16-20 via CU. Vol. 4 is available now though. House of Slaughter Vol. 1 isn’t available on CU or from any of my OverDrive libraries so I read it through Hoopla. I’m kicking myself for not checking for the single issues on CU because they are there. I don’t mind Hoopla, but Hoopla’s quality isn’t as good as Amazon’s. For example I took these screenshots from the graphic novel Sheets. The first is Hoopla and the second is Overdrive/Amazon. I tried to zoom in the same amount on each.

I’ve already canceled CU sub since I already know what we’ll be reading in August. It was a successful month. I read 9 books from CU for $5.99 and retail price was $44.55.

This may seem like a lot, but I keep a reading spreadsheet and I can see how much money I’ve saved this year. I rarely buy books unless they are from indies and I haven’t done that at all so far this year. Sometimes when I checkout an ebook Amazon will let me get the Audible book at a discount. On a super rare occasion I’ll buy a Big5 ebook that’s super discounted and I’ll get the Audible version at a discount too. That happened recently with John Scalzi’s Kaiju Preservation Society. I got both for $10.48. That’s less than one of my Audible credits. Retail for both at the time was $26.45.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by JBaby

I have seven OverDrive eCards, but that will be six once my BPL card expires in January. I’ve paid for BPL and Stark for a total of $80.

I have a $143.80 2yr Kindle Unlimited sub. I had my first renewal in 2021. I know many don’t like KU, but I love it. I use it to supplement library holds. Many times I can find Big5 books on KU so I won’t check them out from the library. I read enough to justify the 5.99 a month.

I pay monthly although need to look into one lump sump sometimes. I'm like you, it's my favorite service and saves me quite a bit of money.

Originally Posted by JBaby

I have Audible, but I don’t pay monthly. I buy my 12 credits once a year for $149.50 or $12.46 per credit. I’m canceling it next year though. My plan is to always cancel the year my KU membership is up for renewal. I love Whispersync for Voice. That’s Amazon’s Killer feature IMO. Even if I didn’t have Audible I’d still have it because my Mom is addicted to audiobooks and she doesn’t want to wait so checking out audiobooks from the library isn’t for her. We read almost all of the same genres so she’d buy anything I wanted. She has the $229.50 24 credits a year plan. That’s $9.56 per credit and she’s buys the daily deals often. We have an Amazon Household and between us we have over 1300 books. What I do is choose one of my Audible and checkout the Kindle ebook. I love being able to pick up where I left off.

Same here - I did the buy in discount for a year last year but this year was the normal rate, which gets me to premium plus and the free audio selections as well as scouring the deals that crop up for cash prices or specials - those are fun to browse.

Originally Posted by JBaby

I’ve never had Scribd. I don’t like their model. And I don’t want to read novels in an app since I have a Kindle.

Same - I liked Scribd in general but it had negatives so I finally unsubbed and plan to use the library more and save the money. I can't stand reading on a tablet for regular e-books, and while they had a huge selection, I primarily used for their audio.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by JBaby

On occasion I will subscribe to ComiXology Unlimited. I’ve subscribed twice this year.

I was looking through the selection and it seems there's a huge amount of overlap with Kindle Unlimited. Depending on the titles you're wanting to read, you might not need CU if you have KU.

[ngrant]

I am a 4 year+ Scribd subscriber and like it very much. I have a Mobiscribe Origin e-ink 6.8" tablet that runs the Google Play store so I can read regular ebooks in the Scribd app on that. The PDFs, magazines and craft-based ebooks with detailed instructions and color photos definitely look better on my big HDTV that I use as a computer monitor. The audiobook selection is very much to my taste and I can find almost all my fave authors there. Also I am grandfathered in @ $8.99/month, very much worth it for me.

I have the Brooklyn paid-for card which runs out in Feb 2023; I won't be looking for alternatives as I have plenty to keep me occupied. My local library has a small Overdrive collection, so don't use that much. Never used KU yet but have the free 2 month trial offered to me every time I visit Amazon.com! Audible+ member on that incredible $1.99/month offer a few months back. Already have more in my TBR and TBL (to be listened to) lists than I will get to in my lifetime. Can you tell I am a happy camper?

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by Manabi

I was looking through the selection and it seems there's a huge amount of overlap with Kindle Unlimited. Depending on the titles you're wanting to read, you might not need CU if you have KU.

That didn't used to be the case as much, but I think there's more overlapping now as KU continues to branch out, and likely as Amazon absorbs more of CU in general

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by ngrant

I am a 4 year+ Scribd subscriber and like it very much. I have a Mobiscribe Origin e-ink 6.8" tablet that runs the Google Play store so I can read regular ebooks in the Scribd app on that. The PDFs, magazines and craft-based ebooks with detailed instructions and color photos definitely look better on my big HDTV that I use as a computer monitor. The audiobook selection is very much to my taste and I can find almost all my fave authors there. Also I am grandfathered in @ $8.99/month, very much worth it for me.

I don't think anyone can beat Scribd for the amount of audio they have for one price. I tend to only listen to about 1-2 audio a month, unfortunately.

[JBaby]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

I pay monthly although need to look into one lump sump sometimes. I'm like you, it's my favorite service and saves me quite a bit of money.

Definitely! I love KU, but it’s not worth $9.99 a month to me. Gift yourself a sub anytime of year. Otherwise you have to wait for the long term subs to be made public twice a year.

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

Same here - I did the buy in discount for a year last year but this year was the normal rate, which gets me to premium plus and the free audio selections as well as scouring the deals that crop up for cash prices or specials - those are fun to browse.

Yes, they are! My mom has a super power for it. So I usually rely on her for browsing. I look/buy too, but our tastes are so similar that I just let her look most of time.

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

Same - I liked Scribd in general but it had negatives so I finally unsubbed and plan to use the library more and save the money. I can't stand reading on a tablet for regular e-books, and while they had a huge selection, I primarily used for their audio.

I don’t know for certain since I’ve never used the service, but I’ve heard you can’t speed up the audiobooks too much. Audible has me spoiled. I can listen to some books faster than 3x. My sweet spot is 2.7x though. It all depends on the narrator. I like that Libby can listen at 3x.

Originally Posted by Manabi

I was looking through the selection and it seems there's a huge amount of overlap with Kindle Unlimited. Depending on the titles you're wanting to read, you might not need CU if you have KU.

That’s true. I did mention that I read the majority of my comics in KU, Overdrive, Hoopla. The reason to sometimes get CU is because KU only has a small subset of the CU catalog. It’s very much like how the Prime Reading is just a small subset of the KU catalog. If any of the comics I mentioned had been available in KU I never would’ve subscribed to CU. But none were part of KU so that’s why I subscribed. But I do agree that there are a ton of comics in KU. I read from KU when I don’t have anything specific in mind. The only time I have specific comics in mind is when I’m reading for my comic book club.

[ngrant]

Originally Posted by JBaby

I don’t know for certain since I’ve never used the service, but I’ve heard you can’t speed up the audiobooks too much. Audible has me spoiled. I can listen to some books faster than 3x. My sweet spot is 2.7x though. It all depends on the narrator. I like that Libby can listen at 3x.

Scribd audio playback has settings 0.8x 1.0x 1.2x 1.5x 1.8x 2.0x 2.5x and 3.0x. Higher speeds sound to me like Alvin (of Chipmunk fame) narrating though... Audio can be downloaded to mobile device for offline listening.

[JBaby]

Originally Posted by ngrant

Scribd audio playback has settings 0.8x 1.0x 1.2x 1.5x 1.8x 2.0x 2.5x and 3.0x. Higher speeds sound to me like Alvin (of Chipmunk fame) narrating though... Audio can be downloaded to mobile device for offline listening.

Yeah Audible has me spoiled. I like having more control than that. And it doesn’t sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks to me. Although it can, on older titles. But on new stuff the pitch is always great to my ears.