Public Domain eBooks
Free Internet eBook Links
This is a list of links to eBooks and Audiobooks available free online. These websites provide access to books in the public domain - that is, books that are not under copyright - and a few other books made freely available on a temporary basis by the copyright holders.
Please note that these sites are not part of the Library. The Humboldt County Library and its staff are not responsible for the content found on any of these sites.
Archive
A large collection of eBooks and eAudiobooks, including much of the world's great literature. Since 2005, the Internet Archive has collaborated with over 1100 Library Institutions and other content providers. These collections include classic books, unusual books and papers, and a wide variety of archival material from North America, Europe and Asia, in more than 184 languages.
This site will send emails to alert you to new and bestselling books that are temporarily available as free or bargain-priced eBooks—in other words, special offers from the publishers. Books that start off as free may move out of 'free' status so be sure to look sharp when selecting books from Bookbub. You must register with an email address. Expect them to 'track your reading interests.'
"the largest collection of illustrated antique books online…we think" says the motto on this Rosetta Stone project. There are also a few audiobooks. All are in jpg format, color photos of each page of these lovely old books, some with optional translations into other languages. They are free except for those in the 'Museum Store' section.
International Children's Library
Free books from all over the world, for children. Pick a language and then search by topic or age group, book length, by a category such as 'award winners', or even by the main color in the cover.
ManyBooks
ManyBooks is an easy to use site that offers thousands of free books in a wide variety of device-ready formats.
OpenLibrary is a free, digital lending library with millions of eBooks that can be read in a browser or downloaded for reading offline. Originally developed to support the Print Disabled community, OpenLibrary now contains public domain and contemporary eBooks. You will need to sign up for a free OpenLibrary card to use it.
The oldest eBook site and one of the largest, this offers over 60,000 free ebooks as epub books, or free kindle books, to download or read online. Most are older classics.