Written by Melissa, staff member, Information Technology
Many people have just recently discovered the joy of e-reading. What better time than now to embrace a new way of accessing literature? Accessing our e-book collection is a fantastic way to meet your need to read. Here, we share several benefits of e-reading that apply now, and always.
So, what is an e-book, anyway?
An e-book is a lot like the books that you would find on our Library’s shelves, but in electronic format. E-books can be read on your phone, tablet, computer, or e-reader. Search for them in our catalogue, the same way you would regular books, or via specific tools in our E-Library.
We love all the formats that our Library offers—from books on CD, to large print books, and everything in between—but, e-books do offer some benefits over other formats.
E-Book benefits
1. Save a trip to the Library
There’s no doubt that the Library is a wonderful place to visit, but you won’t have to go very far to borrow e-books. Once your e-book is available, you can download it 24 hours of the day, any day of the year, all from the comfort of your own home.
2. No late fees
Your e-books will automatically return themselves after your loan period, and, the best part is, you’ll never have to worry about late fees.
3. Read anytime, anywhere
If you enjoy reading on the go, you can take your whole library with you—on the bus, train, or airplane; or even to stand in line at the grocery store.
4. One device, many books
If you’re not sure which book to pack, e-books eliminate the need to choose one book over another to carry with you. E-books are portable and lightweight, making it easy to carry around 100s, even 1000s, of books at once on your mobile device, tablet, e-reader-, or laptop.
5. A dictionary at your fingertips
With many e-books, you can use the built-in dictionary feature to define an unfamiliar word. On most devices, you can do this by pressing and holding the word you'd like to look up.
6. Search in seconds
With many e-books, you have ability to search through an entire book in seconds. Easily search for information in an e-book, instead of turning page after page to find what you’re looking for.
7. Customize how you read
When you’re reading an e-book, you can adjust the text size to be as small or as large as you’d like. You’ll also have options to adjust other settings, such as margins, line spacing, font style, brightness, and much more.
Our collection is always growing
Halifax Public Libraries has e-book collections for all ages, and you’ll find every type of e-book you can imagine, from the classics to today’s bestsellers.
New to the Library? Welcome! Get a card and get started.
Kids will love TumbleBooks, and you’ll fall in love with Libby, by OverDrive and hoopla. If you’re looking for e-books in accessible formats, you may want to check out our CELA Collection.
Browse our e-book collections to get started. If you’re not sure how to get started with one of our E-Library resources, check out our tutorials on Niche Academy.
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