eLibrary
We have a great collection of eBooks, eAudiobooks, eMagazines and eNewspapers, free for you to download to your computer or device. Select from the following for information about how to download your reading or listening apps.
Join the Library and you will have instant access to a range of free eAudiobooks available from Borrowbox. You don't need to worry about returning the books as they are automatically removed as the end of the loan.
You can loan/reserve 10 items and borrow for 21 days.
Download the Borrowbox app now.
Please be aware you cannot use with Amazon Kindle
Overdrive provides eBooks, eAudiobooks, eMagazines, eVideos, and eNewspapers through their website or via their Libby app. To use Overdrive, we do require that you have a valid library membership and live in the West Midlands county covering - Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull or Walsall.
To create an account you need to email [email protected] with your card number. If you are not already a member of Birmingham libraries and only want to use the eLibrary then you can join online and email in the SELFREG number you are given
- eBooks, eAudiobooks, and eMagazines you can search for, download, and reserve through the library catalogue
- eNewspapers can only be accessed through the Libby App and going to Extras and PressReader.
Please note that the Amazon Kindle eReader does not currently support library eBook loans in the UK.
You can search the catalogue as you would normally and any eContent will be listed alongside items held in Libraries. In the examples below the first three are electronic resources that you can download, the first is an eAudiobook, the second is an eBook and the third an eMagazine. The last example is an item held in a library.
Search only for eBooks or eAudiobooks
You can search the catalogue specifically for eBooks, eAudiobooks and eMagazines. From the main catalogue page go to where it says Full catalogue. You can then select to search by eAudiobooks, eBooks or eMagazines. Select the format you wish to search for, and under Search by keyword, enter the author or title or subject. You can choose to leave it blank and search for all the content available. Now click on the magnifying glass.
Search for a combination
Alternatively, you can use the Advanced search option. You can then limit your search using either Location and/or collection. By selecting Location then eLibrary, you will automatically limit to stock that you can download at home. By selecting Collection, you can choose to search all or a combination of collections.
You will need to log into your Library account and search for the eAudiobook, eBook or eMagazine your wish to download. Then select View availability
If you are not already logged in then you will prompted to login and select Borrow this eBook/eAudiobook,
You will be asked to confirm the format. Learn more about the different formats for borrowing eBooks. Select Continue.
You will receive confirmation your loan has been successful and when also when it expires. You can download directly using Download this title now or access your request by logging into the Libby App or via the Overdrive website.
Items can be reserved directly through the catalogue. First, you select the item, if there is no copy to loan, you will see the option to Place reservation.
You will see an alert informing you that your email address will be sent to Overdrive. If your email address is incorrect, you will need to go Libby/Overdrive website and update it through reservation request and Edit email. You may be asked to confirm the format then Place reservation.
Your reservation will now be confirmed, including your place in the queue.
You can check your reservations by going to your library account and there is the option to cancel our reservation.
To see more detail including the option to cancel the reservation click on the link. To cancel select the burger menu to bring up Cancel reservation option.
You will be asked if you wish to confirm your cancellation.
You will get confirmation of the cancellation.
To renew a title, select the Renew button on your Loans page. This option appears below the title three days before it’s due. There are a few reasons why you might be unable to renew a title:
- Someone else has the book on hold. In this case, you'll see a Place Hold button (instead of Renew), which means you need to wait to borrow the book again.
- It's too early to renew the book. You'll be able to renew a book a few days before it's due. If it's too early, Libby will tell you how much longer you need to wait before you can renew it.
- This book is no longer in your library's catalog. This may happen because the book has expired or has been manually removed.