Being an avid—borderline obsessive—reader, you can imagine my excitement when I recently read that you can borrow Kindle books from your local library. Books have always been a necessary expense for me. I put off trips to the salon, expensive shoes, and other girly things in order to get my reading on. I was a bit put off by the Kindle at first, like the commercial says, “I like the feeling of books.” Well, I did…until two years ago when I read my first Kindle book, “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens. I know it’s not the longest book in the world, but I didn’t move until I finished it. From that point on I was devouring Kindle books like my dog goes through dry food. As with hard-copy books, thems cost money! Therefore, borrowing books from my local library is a great thing.
After reading Amazon’s article on the new library loan functionality, I immediately went online, found the head librarian at the Santa Barbara Public Library, and asked her if they participate in this program. She quickly got back to me and said indeed they are participating. The next day I downloaded a library card application, and made my way to the closest branch to get my first library card in 20 years. Within minutes I was a card-carrying member of the Santa Barbara Public Library…and I was also out the door. It’s not that I didn’t want to explore the library…ok, I didn’t…I just wanted to get back to the privacy of my home to download my first Kindle book from the library!
I wasted a good 20 minutes dicking around online, not getting anywhere. I mean, why should I read how to do something? By the time the 21st minute rolled around, I noticed a large banner on the library website that “Library eBooks for Kindle” with a nice picture of a Kindle, no less. That couldn’t have been there the whole time? I’m sure the library posted it 21 minutes after I accessed their site…but I digress. I clicked on the banner, searched out the book I was looking for, #10 of the Sookie Stackhouse series (don’t you judge me!), and checked that bad-boy out. I was then brought to a screen in Amazon where I downloaded it, and dropped the file onto my Kindle. If you have the fancy Wi-Fi Kindle, it sends it to you like magic.
Now I get to be smug and act surprised when people tell me they don’t have library cards, “Really, you don’t support your public library?” The best part is that I get to read a shitload of books for free. I may never get out of my reading chair again! I encourage you Kindle readers out there to see if your public library is doing this. Seriously, aside from getting your library card, it’s not that much different than purchasing books from www.amazon.com. Go. Do it. What are you waiting for?
