February 14, 2006 > Free eBooks and eAudiobooks

by Ronnie Davis

Listen to a book by Elmore Leonard, James Patterson or Jane Austen. Download the latest Rough Guide to Boston. Alameda County Library customers now have access to hundreds of digital books and digital audiobooks. eBbooks are electronic versions of printed books that can be accessed from home for on-screen reading. The downloadable audiobooks can be downloaded to personal computers for listening at home. They can also be copied from personal computers onto CDs for listening in cars.

To explore the offerings, go to the Alameda County Library website at www.aclibrary.org and click on the second topic under Research Center entitled "eBooks and eAudiobooks." You will then be able to choose from several collections. The Califa Digital Books and Audiobooks collection include eBooks and digital audiobooks that can be used on a variety of devices such as PCs, laptops, and supported PDAs. This site offers digital audiobooks in the OverDrive Media Console format, and e-Books in the Adobe Reader and Mobipocket Reader formats. To access digital books at the Califa Digital Book Download Center, you will need a valid Alameda County Library card; access to the Internet and free software for the device on which you wish to use your digital book. Unfortunately, the digital audiobooks are not compatible with the Apple iPod at this time.

The NetLibrary eBooks collection includes Cliffs Notes, Nolo press self-help law books, computer books, business and career books, and a wide variety of general interest titles. eBooks may be searched through the Alameda County Library's catalog or directly through the NetLibrary Catalog. To access books from home, you need to create your own free account with NetLibrary. To set up an account, go to "Create a Free Account" and follow the instructions. Note: You must be in an Alameda County Library branch to set up your free account.

For more information on these services, please contact your local Alameda County Library.