[GUIDE] Borrow Books From Public Libraries

[cabbie]

This is a rough draft of a guide I'm going to be fleshing out more thoroughly as time goes on. The layout will be tweaked.

You need:

1) A nook or nookcolor
2) A library card
3) A computer
4) Adobe Digital Editions installed on the computer

So you already have a nook, so step 1) is taken care of. You can go to your local public library and simply present a drivers license in most cases to receive a library card. Be sure to ask them whether the city/county your library is a part of offers a digital media catalog for book borrowing. Once you have the card, you can do the rest from your home computer.

Download Adobe Digital Editions and make an account:Adobe - Digital Editions

Navigate to your library's website and click on the digital media catalog (it might be a different name depending on your location). You will be able to shop around for books. Search or browse for what you want but make sure they books are in the ADOBE PDF format, which is what the nook is compatible with.

At some point the website will ask you for your library card number which you enter in. Once you 'check out', your computer's browser downloads an extremely small file (like 5 KB). Clicking on this tells Adobe Digital Editions to open and then download the book.

the point of Adobe Digital Editions is that this program puts the protection on the downloaded book so you only have it 7 to 14 days, so you cant keep it forever or email it to all your friends...you are 'borrowing' it.

Once the book is downloaded and you see it in Adobe Digital Editions, plug your nook into your computer. It is set to automatically go into USB mode. USB mode essentially makes it look like a flash drive to your computer for easy copy/pasting of files back and forth between them.

Once you've plugged it in, it will likely ask you to authorize the device. Depending on which software version of nookcolor you are updated to, it might show up as either 'media' or 'MyNookColor'. Agree to authorize it.

While in 'Library View' in Adobe Digital Editions, drag and drop the borrowed book onto your nook.

Open 'My Computer' and right click on the drive nook represents and eject it.

On your nook, open 'Library', tap the 'My Files' tab and select 'Digital Editions' to show your borrowed book. Tap the folder the book is uniquely named in and you have your lending period of time to read it.

This sounds like a lot of headache and steps, but once you've downloaded the program and set everything up, you can go from borrowing a book off the website to reading it on your Nook in under a minute. Trust me.

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to do:
clean up formatting
screenshots
add addendum for how to borrow audiobooks using overdrive

 

[cabbie]

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[xmr405o]

Might be a dumb question but can I borrow from another library cuz my library doesn't have a large selectionof ebooks

 

[cabbie]

sure, if they have a system that does it and you have a library card from them

 

[nolook]

can you still borrow books on a rooted nook with another rom like HC or gingerbread?

 

[mrfeh]

can you still borrow books on a rooted nook with another rom like HC or gingerbread?

Yes, you can.

And to the general community - it's not necessary to download digital editions and use a PC to check out e-books. I installed Overdrive Media Console from the market, which lets you browse and check out book directly from your NC.

You'll still need a library card, of course.

 

[chocophile]

Search or browse for what you want but make sure they books are in the ADOBE PDF format, which is what the nook is compatible with.

For what it's worth, many Overdrive books are in ePub format, and ePub files also work on the NC.

 

[chocophile]

cabbie, another thing: if your library has NetLibrary books, the procedure is just about identical to the Overdrive steps. In my case, not all the library's eBooks are downloadable. Those that are have a link to "Check Out & Download this eBook." The NetLibrary advanced search form includes a check box to limit the search results to downloadable eBooks.

NetLibrary seems to be more prevalent in college & university libraries than in public libraries.

 

[1PaloAlto]

You can read pretty much any ebook format you want if you use calibre to convert from one format to another (calibre - E-book management).

I have both the Nook and Kindle apps on my NC and prefer the Kindle app because it allows a white on black page which I find much easier on the eyes. Kindle reads the .mobi format.

The overall process is a little complicated but works quite well.

 

[gsutton]

Yes, you can.

And to the general community - it's not necessary to download digital editions and use a PC to check out e-books. I installed Overdrive Media Console from the market, which lets you browse and check out book directly from your NC.

You'll still need a library card, of course.

I have tried MANY times to download with just the NookColor (no PC) using Overdrive Media Console, and it will do everything except download. It generates an unusually long "URL" when prompted for download, one which will not allow anything to be downloaded. If you ever get an opportunity, a detailed access and download process based on your experiences would be welcomed.

 

[chocophile]

I have tried MANY times to download with just the NookColor (no PC) using Overdrive Media Console, and it will do everything except download. It generates an unusually long "URL" when prompted for download, one which will not allow anything to be downloaded. If you ever get an opportunity, a detailed access and download process based on your experiences would be welcomed.

If you've downloaded OMC, my guess is that you're seeing a prompt to select an action, OverDrive Media Console or Browser. Choose OMC to download. If you choose browser, you'll see the long URL, and the download won't work.

 

[chocophile]

Here are my step by step instructions for using Overdrive Media Console to borrow library eBooks. These instructions may skip a step or two, since I wrote them up after having everything already setup:

Initial (one-time) setup

Create an Adobe ID
1. Install Overdrive Media Console
2. Click menu, app settings.
3. Enter your Adobe ID (or create one using the "get a free Adobe ID" button).

Once the initial setup is done, it's pretty straightforward.

Once this setup is done:

1. Click menu, get books.
2. Choose a library. You can browse by state, then city to find your local library.
3. this opens the library's overdrive website. You'll probably have to login with your library card number (and maybe a second piece of information, like your library PIN).
4. Browse or search for books, add them to your cart, check them out, and download.

 

[colchiro]

I thought this deserved to be stickied.

 

[gsutton]

If you've downloaded OMC, my guess is that you're seeing a prompt to select an action, OverDrive Media Console or Browser. Choose OMC to download. If you choose browser, you'll see the long URL, and the download won't work.

Thank you for the reply. I receive no prompt for a choice of download action, it just goes straight to the browser. I will look into this further and see if I can restore a setting, etc. to allow the OMC download as a choice. Thank you!

 

[chocophile]

The setting you're looking for should be at Settings, Applications, Manage Applications. From there, you may need to view all applications, then tap your default browser. You should see a clear defaults button.

 

[CSProductivity]

I hadn't even considered this as an option due to the ridiculous concept of returning an e-book! I do however spend a good deal of time over at the Gutenberg Project.

 

[bobstro]

Just a quick note: Many of the books you get from the library will be protected by Adobe DRM. You need to get a (free) Adobe account to read these. Many readers allow you to hook in this account. If you use more than 6, particularly if you wind up reinstalling frequently, Adobe may lock your account. Go onto Adobe's web site and ask for help using the online chat, and they'll unlock your account.

I did this the other night, but I've since re-installed CM twice. I think mine's about to lock up again.

Such is what we must live with in the world of DRM. It's ridiculous.

 

[TeriLucky]

Very concise and easy to follow. Thanks so much!

 

[MdExTexan]

You can read pretty much any ebook format you want if you use calibre to convert from one format to another (calibre - E-book management).

I have both the Nook and Kindle apps on my NC and prefer the Kindle app because it allows a white on black page which I find much easier on the eyes. Kindle reads the .mobi format.

The overall process is a little complicated but works quite well.

Calibre won't convert files that are DRM'd unless you first remove the DRMs using 3rd party software.