Borrow Kindle books from the library

Here’s the news that all Kindle e-reader owners have been waiting for. You can check out a Kindle book from the library and read it on any Kindle device or free Kindle reading app.

With just a few clicks the book is delivered to your reader. Here are the steps:

• Browse and check out a Kindle book from the OverDrive-powered digital site on the Viking Library System on-line catalog.

• Click the “Get for Kindle” button. This opens the Amazon.com website. You may be asked to sign in to your Amazon.com account.

• Select a Kindle device or Kindle reading app. Click the “Get Library Book” button and sync your device or app to download the book, or choose to send it to your device via USB.

• An active Wi-Fi connection is required for wireless delivery to your Kindle.

The library offers more detailed instructions at the circulation desk.

It’s just that easy. I have owned and loved a Kindle for the past year. I had originally purchased it as a gift for my son, who loves to search book stores and sales for great deals. But he really wasn’t interested. He likes his stacks of “real books” and likes to read “real books.”

The Kindle ended up being a gift to me. The first book I purchased was Fall of Giants by Ken Follett with 985 pages. I liked to carry around my light-weight reader rather than a 5-pound book.

I liked to be able to change the size of the type when my eyes were tired of small print.

I liked the idea of being able to purchase a book wherever I might be as long as there was a Wi-Fi connection.

Here’s an example – I had just finished the first Stieg Larsson book while we were staying at a hotel in Minneapolis. I was totally obsessed with the series and couldn’t wait to start the second book. I connected to the hotel’s Wi-Fi and almost magically the book was delivered to my Kindle.

I still check out “real books” from the Douglas County Library and I continue to love books and purchase books as gifts for my grandchildren, family and friends. But e-readers are just another format to enjoy a good book.

I’m planning on giving my son a Kindle for Christmas again this year. Now with free electronic books available from his local library, I think he’ll thank his mother for the great present.

Tags: life, library, technology