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Libraries and books

Your local library offers more than just books. You'll find details of local reading groups and you'll also be able to rent videos and CDs, and surf the internet free of charge. Many libraries are also online, so you can search catalogues and renew loans from your home. A new service is being offered by Libraries NI, allowing members to download eBooks.

Your local library

Your local library staff will be able to help you use the library and are able to offer ideas on finding books to read. You can rent CDs and videos, browse newspapers and magazines, and surf the internet. You can also download eBooks (electronic books) - find out more about this below.

Larger libraries may also offer a wide range of reference material and places for private study.

Some libraries also have online services where you can search their catalogue and ask for an item to be reserved for you to collect. Find out more on the Libraries NI website.

New free online service - downloadable eBooks

Almost 25,000 eBook items in the Libraries NI catalogue are now available for the public to download, free of charge.

Libraries NI is delighted to offer this free service for library members across Northern Ireland to enjoy. There are thousands of titles to choose from and they can be downloaded to most eBook readers and handheld devices, including some mobile phones and also personal computers.

This new virtual library of free eBooks is available online at the following link:

This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are no reservations fees and no fines, with the books automatically expiring when the loan period finishes.

Library users can choose from popular bestsellers and a varied range of information books including biographies, travel, humour or to help with learning.

In addition there are titles which will appeal to teenagers and over 5000 eBook items for children to enjoy.

You can download up to nine eBooks and have them for three weeks, after which they will just disappear from the device to which you have downloaded them. There is no need to return the eBooks to a library and no overdue charges to pay. You can borrow the same books again after this period if no one else wants to borrow them and you can also download books while on holiday, by logging onto the Libraries NI website.

eBooks is the latest free service Libraries NI is offering to all its library users, so if you’d like to become a library member and gain access to a ‘virtual’ library of free eBooks, anytime, anywhere, call into any local library and sign up today.