Google Results Now Include Ebooks From Your Local Library
Google has just made it easier to find free legal e-books. Search for a book, and in the dashboard on the right, under purchase options, Google will list the local public libraries that have the eBook. (On your mobile device, tap the Get Book tab.) If you are a member of the library, you can check out the book right away, right on your device. It looks like magic. Try it with Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend .
This feature has been around for a long time. People have been looking for free e-books for years, enough that Google will usually automatically suggest “PDF” after any search for a book title. (Search for a TV show and it will add “free streaming.”) This is probably one of the reasons Google recently added this legal option.
Here are some differences: the library bought its e-book legally, so you support the author. This alone is a great reason to go to court. Now that it is so easy to steal books, the publishing industry relies on readers to do the right thing.
This, of course, means resignation with some limitations. You can only borrow a book for a couple of weeks at a time (although many systems allow you to renew it).
And depending on your library’s collection, you might download it to your Kindle or iBooks, or you might need a proprietary app. These applications vary greatly in quality; Libby is sometimes even better than the Kindle app, while NYC SimplyE is awkward and buggy. Even within the same library system, different books may require different applications.