Library users in Northern Ireland are now being offered a new online service - downloadable eBooks.

Almost 25,000 eBook items in the Libraries NI catalogue are now available for the public to download, from this summer, which is perfect for people wanting to travel light on their holidays.

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 as well as to personal computers.

This new virtual library of free eBooks is available online from www.librariesni.org.uk/ebooks

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. 

Irene Knox, Chief Executive with Libraries NI, explains:

"More and more people are choosing to read books with e-book readers, and this is the ideal way to enjoy your holiday reading without having to overload your luggage! 

“If you love reading but are too busy to get to a library to choose your books and want to go on holiday without having to worry about returning them on time, then eBooks are the perfect solution. 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. 

If you would like to read eBooks, go the Libraries NI website www.librariesni.org.uk to find out more and enjoy the impressive range of titles available.