eBooks, Audiobooks & Digital Magazines


Here's how to get free library eBooks, Audiobooks, magazines and articles that you can read on your phone, tablet, or computer.


Most eBooks do not appear in the Humboldt County Library Catalog. Instead, you will find them by using the links below.


There are helpful instructions at each link, but if you have questions please call 707-269-1905 or  707-269-1915 to talk to library staff.

Overdrive's Library to Go

Overdrive Library to Go logo, a dynamic wheel with a tread made of book shapes.

The Library to Go Online Book Collection

The Library subscribes to Overdrive’s Library to Go to offer our largest collection of new, popular eBooks and audiobooks for adults and children. 

Full issues of popular magazines are also available in this collection!

Get the free Libby app

the Libby logo features a book, and behind the book the head of the reader.

Overdrive App Going Away by May 1, 2023

Say goodbye to Overdrive - and hello to Libby!

Your Library to Go items are now found in the Libby app. 

The older Overdrive app is being retired. It can no longer be found in app stores. If you are having trouble using it, please change to Libby.  Here's how to switch your account to Libby.

The Overdrive app will stop functioning entirely, for everyone, by May 1, 2023.  Ask us to help get Libby working for you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Kids' eBook Reading Room

This special area of Overdrive is just for children.


To Get Started with Libby

  • After you download Libby from your app store, open it and click on the Sign In button.  
  • Select Humboldt County Library (sometimes listed under Northnet.)
  • Enter your library card number. Libby will remember your card.
  • You are ready to begin browsing for books!

Download Entire Magazines from Libby

Image, sample covers of the magazines Inked, Atlantic, National Geographic, Cooks, Allure, Preventi

To Library Home Page

The library logo - framed by a book, a mighty redwood stands by water and hills.

enki from Biblioboard

Enki's logo, the name enki with a magnifying glass over the e and an ink-blot as the dot of the i

Enki’s California Digital Library

Looking for something a little more diverse? Looking for indie authors? Enki includes over 5,300 simultaneous use ebooks from leading publishers as well as the Indie Author Project Select collection.

  • no library card is required
  • no waiting for a book
  • if you are physically located in the state of California, you’re in!

Note - this resource does not provide access to the entire enki library collection, just titles where the license allows for everyone to be able to use them at the same time (no waiting!) It uses geolocation to provide access to anyone physically located in the state of California.

Podcasts about Books & Literature



Find out about great reads, new authors, and what's going on in the literary world with these conversations about books and literature that you can listen to online or download to your device.

Podcasts about Books & Literature

Find out about great reads, new authors, and what's going on in the literary world with these conversations about books and literature that you can listen to online or download to your device.

Podcasts about Books & Literature

Find out about great reads, new authors, and what's going on in the literary world with these conversations about books and literature that you can listen to online or download to your device.

Articles and Databases


 
The library subscribes to these trusted information sources so that you can use them for free.

These include:


Chilton's Automotive Database
Driver's Ed (practice for CA tests)
MasterFile,   Explora
LinkedIn Education
Heritage Quest Genealogy
JobNow & VetNow
Mango Languages

                      ...and more.

Public Domain eBooks and eAudiobooks



On the left menu near the top of the page are links to sources of eBooks and eAudiobooks that are on the internet in the public domain and free to all.  Many classic works and old forgotten favorites are restored to us with these collections, and well worth reading, but you'll also find sources of newer books offered by publishers for free, usually for limited periods.
A cartoon toucan touching a tablet computer.

Kindle Users



Most Library to Go books will work on your Kindle, but some other sources of eBooks may not.

If you want to read books in other formats on your Kindle, there is a free open-source app you can use on your computer, Calibre, that works to reformat eBooks to a format that you can read on your Kindle, or almost any other device. 


Tired of Your Commercial Reading App? Calibre does more...


Calibre can be useful for any ebook reader who wants to read ebooks from varied sources, and keep the books they own in an online library designed for reader needs. The free, open-source app works on a computer (not your phone or tablet). Once you have Calibre on your computer, you can read on that device or transfer books in your library on and off your phone or tablet as you like. Keep your own notes about each book and make your own rating system. Organize your library as you prefer.

NOTE

  The Humboldt County Library and its employees are not responsible for what you choose to visit or download via the internet. Library and library website users are responsible for their own use of the internet and are expected to act with due caution and use critical thinking when making decisions about using the internet.