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As many of you know, I have been in a book group since moving to Darien, CT some 20+ years ago. It is the best group of women and we have read some great books. I have been the secretary for most of its existence and work with our local Library to get the books for us to read.
We have an amazing local library and I borrow real books all the time. And then I met Libby.
Who is Libby?
Libby is an App that connects you to the thousands of ebooks and audiobooks from your library. All you need is your library card to sign in (and Libby can help you set that up too!). Once you sign in and connect your account – you can browse and borrow up to 10 books and/or audiobooks at a time right to your device or Kindle.
Take a look at the below pictures to see how it works.
How does Libby Work?
- Download the Libby App and connect your Library Account (Sign in to multiple libraries, with one or more cards for each library.)
- Select your preferences – Either Book or Audio
- For Books – select to read in either the Libby App or the Kindle App. (*note: you can not move the books between apps, so if you prefer the Kindle – which means you can access the book on all your Kindle devices – borrow for the Kindle)
- For Audio – it is only via the Libby App and works great in the car or with your headphones (*see below about listening to books via Kindle)
- Search by genre or preferences for a title you are interested in. Borrow it, get on the wait list or add it to your wish list.
- For Kindle books Libby will open Amazon, you will need to login to your account, and it will ask you to download the book to your Kindle reader.
- Download books and audiobooks for offline reading, or stream them to save space.
- Keep track of your reading history in the Activity tab.
- Positions, bookmarks, and notes are kept in sync across your devices.
- All your loans and holds are consolidated on a single shelf.
- Get reminders for when a book is about to expire or when a book is available to download
- You can also sync with your GoodReads account so you know what you want to read and what you have read.
Can you listen to the books on the Kindle?
Yes! The New Kindles and Kindle App have Audible – so you can borrow a Kindle version book and either read it or listen to it! Brilliant!
Can you use the Kindle App if you do NOT have a Kindle device?
Yes. You can use the app without a Kindle device BUT you do need an Amazon account.
Can I read the same book on different devices? Does it save my place?
Yes! I have my books downloaded on my Kindle and in the Kindle App on my iPhone. If I read on my Kindle and then switch to my iPhone – it will ask me if I want to go to the furthest page read. Very smart!
I love the ability to borrow books from our Library and always have a book on hand. If the Library (Libby) does not have a book that I want to read – I have the Kindle Unlimited Membership that allows me to borrow Kindle Unlimited books. I pay $9.99 per month for 10 books!
Between Libby and Kindle Unlimited I can read/ listen up to 20 books per month! Thats a deal!
With a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you have access to over one million titles in the Kindle Store, including books, audiobooks, and magazines. Using your Amazon account, you can browse and borrow up to ten titles and access them from any Amazon device or Kindle reading app, even while traveling. There are no due dates. Titles in the Kindle Unlimited catalog can change at any time.
If you haven’t tried Kindle Unlimited before, you can sign up for a free trial. At the end of your free trial, you are automatically upgraded to a monthly paid subscription plan.
Check out the Kindle Unlimited Membership Plans and/ or Try Audible and get two FREE audio books
Hi Ridgely. I always like your post, but this one is great! Thank you so much for this valuable information! I just borrowed my first ebook. Hopefully the fact that I have to read it in 2 weeks will encourage me to read more. 😉
Take care, Claire
Hi Claire – That makes me so happy! I am so glad you got your first book! I just love being able to ‘borrow’ books and not fill my over flowing book shelves. Thank you ! and enjoy. xxRidgely
I love libby! I find it kind of annoying to get library books through Kindle because they don’t disappear when they expire but that’s not the case with libby
Have you seen “Library extension” – it really easily lets you see if a book on amazon is available at your local library (ebook or ‘live’)
https://www.libraryextension.com/
I agree – love Libby! 🙂 That is so cool – no I do not know the extension. Thank you so much for sharing – that is good to know! xxRidgely