If you are looking for something to fill up your electronic device, be it an iPad, a Kindle, a Nook or whatever, this is the place. As laid out below, there are nine different sources for your materials. Each one works differently and provides different materials, so if you are unfamiliar with the source, be sure to look for the help on each page. Additionally, you can get one-on-one help from a librarian by signing up for a Tech Time.
- Overdrive (eBooks and Audiobooks) Only service that works with Kindle. “Libby” is another way of getting Overdrive’s content.
- Freading (eBooks)
- RBdigital Audiobooks – all Westchester patrons
- Freegal (Music)
- RBdigital Magazines (magazines) for Larchmont cardholders only.
- PressReader (global magazines and newspapers)
- ComicsPlus (comics for all ages)
- Hoopla (movies, television, eBooks, audiobooks, music and comics) Note: when signing up for the first time, scroll down to “Westchester Library System” instead of looking for “Larchmont Public Library.”
- Kanopy (movies)
A Little More Explanation
Caveat — This is a very new, rapidly evolving technology which is changing the way publishers and libraries do business. Policies and technologies are changing continuously. We try to have the most recent information, but be aware things may have changed. Update: (2019) This caveat was first posted in 2013. It is still true today, unfortunately.
Overdrive can be used to download both eBooks and Audiobooks for all platforms including Kindles. Downloadable items are treated just like real books. If we want three patrons to be able to read or listen to a book, we have to buy three copies. Libby is another, perhaps simpler, way of accessing Overdrive’s content.
As its name implies, Freading is for eBooks. Freading uses Adobe Digital Editions to mediate the downloads so Kindle users are out of luck (See Caveat). While it does not limit the amount of patrons who can check out a particular title, it does limit patrons to three checkouts or renewals a week.
Freegal is pretty simple. Each week you can download five songs and keep them forever. You can also stream three hours of music a day. The major publisher in the collection is Sony, so there’s a good mix of popular and classical. It should be noted that an opera has lots of songs so it could take months to download La Traviata, for example. Adele’s 25 only has 11 songs though, so it will only take three weeks.
Think of RBdigital Magazines as a 24/7 Laager Reading Room. We’ve subscribed to over 50 magazines which you can download to your computer, ipad, smartphone or similar device. Once you’ve downloaded an issue, it’s yours to keep just like a real magazine. You cannot roll up these magazines to swat flies, however.
With Pressreader, you can read today’s Le Monde and tomorrow’s Herald Sun (thanks to the International Date Line) as well as hundreds of other magazines and newspapers in all sorts of languages. At home access and in-library access.
ComicsPlus features thousands of digital comic books available with a click of your mouse or a tap of your finger. All you need is your library card and a web browser to get started. You can even download the Comics Plus: Library Edition app for iPhone and iPad to take your borrowed comics on the go!
Hoopla is a new digital media service provided to you, our patron, through which you may access and enjoy nearly half a million titles, from six different formats: Movies, TV, Music Albums, eAudiobooks, eBooks, and Comics/Graphic novels.
Kanopy also has a wide collection of movies and television programs, particularly classics. Want some Fellini, Kurosawa or Godard? This is the place. Or you can scratch your documentary itch with every Frederick Wiseman ever made (except the new one about New York Public Library).