UK libraries

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by ballfresno

I asked West Sussex County Council about ebook lending in the county back in late October and got this response:
I've prompted them again this week but no further update. There is a link on their website to an overdrive page but it fails on authentication...
eric

From my past experiences with West Sussex Council, a few years ago, unless things have altered, you might be waiting a while - unless one of the great and good utters, of course.......

[feenix1363]

Originally Posted by MoodRing

We should do try collate a list for Ireland!

If you collate the information I can certainly add it to the original post. I need to do an update anyway. I've noticed that there are a lot of new council areas coming on-line towards the end of last year.

[Kevin2960]

I am now a member of 6 Libraries in counties where I dont live or work, It's useful as I can find a lot more choice as most UK libraries are still VERY limited in thier eBooks,

Also with Library loans I am listening to many more Audio Books than previously !

[feenix1363]

Originally Posted by Kevin2960

I am now a member of 6 Libraries in counties where I dont live or work, It's useful as I can find a lot more choice as most UK libraries are still VERY limited in thier eBooks,

Also with Library loans I am listening to many more Audio Books than previously !

Variety is indeed the best benefit of joining in different areas. Libraries in the UK don't yet have a very large selection of ebooks. I hope you've also had a look at the Singapore library ? There's a good selection there, as well as being free to join.

[daveps]

Care to share which 6 they are and how to join them?

[Kevin2960]

Herts, Warks, Bexley All allowing full Access to eBooks and or Audiobooks , Hampshire not yet had card but have temp number allowing reserves ? So not yet sure on this one , All joined online,

Surrey Allowed me to join online, then emailed that I wasn't in the Area so they decided I couldn't have a membership after all so that one is a no hope, Unless I go and VISIT one of thier libraries, wish they had said that to star with !

Essex also looked OK but I can only make reservations so far, i think again have to Fetch card from one of thier Libraries,

So in effect in fact only 3 maybe 4 so far are allowing access to books !

I'll keep trying to find accessable libraries and report back

[Witty Username]

Originally Posted by Witty Username

LibrariesWest launch their ebook service in January 2012.

LibrariesWest is a consortium of five library services - Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset, and South Gloucestershire.

Some information about the new service is here:

librarieswest.org.uk

Kindle readers are NOT accommodated due to DRM issues (quelle surprise!)

You have to be a member and to join you have to "...live, work or study in Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset or South Gloucestershire."

Quoting my original post to add new information:

ebook lending from Libraries West starts on Monday 16 January.

[feenix1363]

Originally Posted by Kevin2960

I'll keep trying to find accessable libraries and report back

Part of the problem is that the ones that are easy to join today, will move the goal posts tomorrow.

I'm lucky in that I work over a large part of the UK and can, time allowing, arrange to pick up my card from a library if required.

I currently have full membership for myself in the following UK libraries;

Bexley (called in to pick up membership card after joining on-line)
Herts (called in to pick up membership card after joining on-line)
Kent (called in to pick up membership card after joining on-line)
Leeds (called in to pick up membership card after joining on-line)
Liverpool (called in to pick up membership card after joining on-line)
London Consortium (called in to pick up membership card after joining on-line)
Manchester (called in to pick up membership card after joining on-line)
Oldham (called in to pick up membership card after joining on-line)

I was a member of Essex but they have now changed over to the Overdrive system and I'll need to rejoin.

Hampshire had a big publicity drive, got told off and will only allow me 6 month visiting membership now, so I've not bothered re-joining.

I've also applied to join Camden and will be picking up my membership card in the next two weeks while working in the area.

Its not impossible to join UK libraries, it just takes a little forward planning. Planning that is worth while on a monetary level. Make the most of the system we (as UK tax payers) fund.

I've just done an update of the original post, and included a link towards the bottom of the post to aid people in finding UK libraries. This is going to be the last update as there are now almost 400 libraries on-line and to keep a constant update is simply no longer feasible.

I've done my best to let people know that the service is there and free. I hope you all enjoy the effort that's gone into it. Not just by myself, but by other members that have also gone to the trouble of posting and sending me messages to let me know of services coming on-line in their areas.

Please feel free to update this thread as you locate new service, but the original post will no longer be updated.

[Kevin2960]

Thanks for all you've done in this thread, It has been an excellent guide for those poor souls living here in the UK wanting to use Libraries!

Regards

[feenix1363]

Originally Posted by Kevin2960

Thanks for all you've done in this thread, It has been an excellent guide for those poor souls living here in the UK wanting to use Libraries!

Regards

Hopefully it will carry on assisting these people.

My belief is that there is finally beginning to build some awareness of the service in the UK. If this is true then the Overdrive search link at the bottom of the first post should be adequate to help people to find out where the service is available. In addition it may draw their attention to the fact that they don't only have to choose from their 'local' library but can join elsewhere when shopping/working/visiting out of area.

[LuvReadin]

Originally Posted by Kevin2960

Thanks for all you've done in this thread, It has been an excellent guide for those poor souls living here in the UK wanting to use Libraries!

Regards

Hear, hear!

I wonder if it would be useful to have in the first thread a note about the fact that Kindles won't work with UK libraries? I volunteer with a group of elderly people - several got Kindles for Xmas, and have been very disappointed to find out they won't work. Given how huge the marketing campaign was for Kindles, it might help people make a more informed decision.

Update for you:
Dorset
Fiction 1070, non-fiction 269

Hampshire
Fiction 4278, non-fiction 971

Also a list of participating libraries in Wales - hopefully some Welsh members will be able to help update!
https://wales.libraryebooks.co.uk/si...embers_out.asp

[Arcflup]

Originally Posted by LuvReadin

Also a list of participating libraries in Wales - hopefully some Welsh members will be able to help update!
https://wales.libraryebooks.co.uk/si...embers_out.asp

eBooks for Wales

Fiction (1747)
Children's, young adult & educational (239)
Non Fiction (987)
Unclassified (644)

[MoodRing]

Originally Posted by feenix1363

Thanks for the update. Just had a quick look and it requires that you call in with proof of ID following registration. So I'll be doing that next time I'm local.

Camden Libraries

Im taking a trip to the UK soon to visit family members so when Im over there I wil ahve a look at these UK libraries. I found a few more sites recently that do good ebooks deals Scribd.com, this is useful for those who use and understand youtube, Project Gutenberg for the largest collection of domain ebooks available. Lots of books from the world’s greatest fiction authors such as Dickens, Joyce, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Anton Chekov and Edgar Allan Poe fall into this category. Theres Free Tech Ebooks, good for those studying and general deal sites as groupin.ie

hope this is help for those looking!

[LuvReadin]

Originally Posted by MoodRing

Im taking a trip to the UK soon to visit family members so when Im over there I wil ahve a look at these UK libraries. I found a few more sites recently that do good ebooks deals [URL="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-best-6-sites-to-get-free-ebooks/"]S

Manybooks.com, Freebooks.com, and Google Books also good sources, although the proofreading isn't up to the same standard as PG.

There's a short list on the MobileRead wiki of the Irish libraries offering ebooks: https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/EBook_Lending_Libraries#Ireland

There's a full list of all the libraries in Ireland in the link below. Unfortunately, there's no indication as to which ones offer ebooks (or any other format).
http://www.library.ie/libraries/public-libraries/#ab

However, according to the article below, which seems quite new, there are 31 libraries in Ireland offering ebook services.
http://www.irishpublishingnews.com/2011/03/02/irish-library-digital-book-usage-expanding-on-an-exponential-scale/

[MoodRing]

Originally Posted by LuvReadin

However, according to the article below, which seems quite new, there are 31 libraries in Ireland offering ebook services.
http://www.irishpublishingnews.com/2...nential-scale/

Thank you for this information I have now researched this, but I think I will still check out a few libraries in UK when Im over there!