how to get books and pay rent
libraries have amazing online systems that avoid the issue of overdue fees
There are three major online portals that allow you to get ebooks and audiobooks - by authors you have heard of and have published in the last 100 years. All are free and simply require an active library card.
Due to COVID, many libraries made it possible to get a library card online, so if you’re in certain areas, you may not even have to go to a library to set it up.
Libby (Formerly Overdrive)
https://libbyapp.com/interview/welcome#doYouHaveACard
Different cities have different websites because the local libraian overlords still determine what books/content are purchased.
For example, the Springfield, MO site is https://springfield.overdrive.com/ and
Tulsa’s is at https://tulsa.overdrive.com/.
Libby gets top billing because it lets you send your books to your kindle (you’ll have to sign in to your Amazon account to give libby access.
I’m using screenshots of the app from my phone, but the online process is the same, just slightly different GUI.
Pick your book and click borrow
Confirm you want to borrow it
Select the option to Read With
Click Kindle
You’ll be taken to your Amazon account where you’ll press the yellow button.
Reresh your Kindle impatiently for 10 minutes like a psycho and voila.
You can put holds on books / audiobooks, but anything you can check out is immediately available. The only way to listen to audiobooks is via the app, but it’s basically the same as using audible. Same bells and features.
Hoopla
https://www.hoopladigital.com/my/hoopla
This is a much more niche app, but it has a huuuuge collection of audio, including literally everything from Megadeath to Kim Petas (yes, my music taste is insane as the rest of me).
They also have a ton of movies and TV shows that you’ve never heard of, but maybe you’re really desperate?
The book selection is fairly hit or miss, and you cany only read ebooks or listen to audiobooks via the app, which isn’t bad, but does feel a bit clunkly compared to Libby. Where it shines is esoteric history books and Christian apologia, which is actually an interest of mine and a few other very boring people I know. I showed a seminary student the app and he said it would save him hundreds of dollars.
Unlike Libby, there are no holds, everything is always available, but you can only borrow so many items each month.
YourCloudLibrary
This is quite similar to Libby, and I’m not sure if everyone has it like Libby (Bolivar, MO was connected to Libby, so I assume it’s everywhere), but it has a different selection of books than Libby.
Sadly, it doesn’t have the same ability to export ebooks to Kindle like Libby can, but the built in reader app is cromulent.
You can download an ebook for offline reading, but it’s an acsm file, which means it rerquires you to enter the dark heart of the Adobe Reader, and while you’re welcome to it, I’d rather walk through a closed sliding glass door. As I said, the ereader is completely cromulent.
Audiobooks are also accesed through the app, but like Libby, you can put holds on or immediately access borrowed media.