We do not directly offer downloadable ebooks or e-audio at this time (too expensive for our budget). The good news: you can access them through other libraries thanks to the ACCESS-PA exchange program. Kindle, Nook, and other popular e-readers are supported. Quick solution (read on for the details): apply for a Free Library of Philadelphia card online, then use it to borrow from their huge Overdrive collection.

The Open Library also offers downloads to anyone with a free account. There are also exchange programs for individuals to trade ebooks (one time each, and only some books are covered): Lendle.com and BookLending.com for Kindle, eBookExchange.com and eBookFling.com for both Nook and Kindle.

To download ebooks, you must have a compatible device--check lists of ebook readers and audio/video players). You also need access to your own computer, as the software is registered to one user and can't be installed on public computers. Wireless download is not available for library ebooks at this time.

To borrow from a Pennsylvania library through ACCESS-PA, you must be a Pennsylvania resident and get a library card at a participating Pennsylvania library. In person, you show the blue ACCESS-PA sticker on your home county library card in order to apply for a card at the other library. But some libraries do allow you to apply online; for example, the Free Library of Philadelphia has an online application form.Once you receive your library card and PIN (you may have set up the PIN during the application process, you may be issued one automatically, or you may need to select one), you should be able to log into that library's databases. Open Library only requires registration; you can begin downloading as soon as you confirm your email address.

Overdrive is the most popular library ebook program, and it's easy to use. NetLibrary is another frequently-encountered program, with a less-friendly interface but a different set of titles. Both offer e-audio titles as well, although not all libraries subscribe to all formats. Open Library has their own program, Lending Library, which currently has about 10,000 books--almost all that aren't already public domain are from the 1950s and 1960s .

All three programs use Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) for ebooks. You need to download and install it before checking out your first book. You should be offered a link, or you can download it here. Once ADE is installed, you'll need to set up an Adobe ID if you don't have one already, and then "authorize" your computer in ADE with the Adobe ID and password. For e-audio, each company has their own product.

Now you're ready to select your ebooks! Different libraries have different policies; a limit of 10 items at one time is typical. When you select and check out a book, a file will be downloaded to your computer and opened with ADE. ADE will then retrieve the ebook. You can read it in ADE, or use ADE to copy it to your device. The e-audio software works the same way.

Overdrive requires libraries to buy one or more digital copies of a book or e-audio. Just like a physical book, only one patron can have a copy checked out. NetLibrary sometimes makes this arrangement as well. Open Library has only a single copy of each title for all users wordwide! Please be courteous to other patrons: don't check out more than you can read at one time, and "return" your items when you are done with them by using "Return Borrowed Item" in ADE. (You must still delete the books manually--after the due date, the ebook will stay in ADE even though it can no longer be read.)

Items that are checked out can be placed on hold, but the hold lists may be long! In Overdrive, you can limit your search to items that are available.

• Click for FLP Overdrive (you may need to enter your barcode/PIN multiple times)
• Click for FLP NetLibrary
• Click for Open Library's Lending Library

Helpful tip: ADE does not always delete the book files from your computer, even after you click Delete. You should periodically go into your My Digital Editions folder and remove books that have expired.