While we don’t have any recommendations for specific eReading devices, it is important to get a device that is compatible with OverDrive (the digital book provider for the ORL eBooks Collection) if you wish to download eBooks from the library.
Please see this list of compatible devices compiled by OverDrive at the following link, https://help.overdrive.com/en-us/devices.htm
If you need help deciding between a tablet and an eReader, check out our Device Advice info page.
Kindle eReader, including the 1st and 2nd Generations eReaders, DX, Keyboard, Paperwhite, or Touch), are not compatible with OverDrive media at this time.
The Kindle eReader is a product of Amazon.com and that company has chosen not to work with OverDrive in terms of format compatibility for Canadian public libraries for their eReaders.
Exception for the Amazon Fire (formerly called Kindle Fire) tablets: The OverDrive App can be used to borrow and enjoy digital books on Amazon Fire tablets.
The OverDrive App is no longer available from BlackBerry App World. BlackBerry users with the OverDrive App installed prior to April 10, 2014, will be able to continue check-out, download and enjoy digital books through the App.
Customers who have the BlackBerry PlayBook, or smartphones running BlackBerry 10, may be able to read borrowed eBooks in their device's web browser, through the OverDrive Read format.
Find out more information about the OverDrive Read format from OverDrive Help.
The Libby App is a new app for tablets and smartphones that has been developed by OverDrive to get you started with eBooks and eAudiobooks quickly and seamlessly! It is available for iPads and iPhones running iOS 9.0 or newer, Android tablets and smartphones running Android 5.0 and newer, and Windows devices using Windows 10 or Windows 10 mobile. To see if the app is available for your smartphone or tablet, visit the Libby App website, https://meet.libbyapp.com.
Or, you can also download eBooks and eAudiobooks directly to your tablet or smartphone using the original OverDrive App. For iPad 2 and newer, iPod Touch & iPhone, Android devices, or Amazon Kindle Fire tablets. To see if the app is available for your smartphone or tablet, visit the Overdrive App website, https://app.overdrive.com.
Once you have installed Adobe Digital Editions on your computer, you will be prompted to authorize your computer with an Adobe ID.
The Adobe ID is a component of Digital Rights Management (DRM). DRM technology is used by publishers as a way to secure digital files, like an eBook, so that there is control over who can open, read or listen to the digital file, how the digital file is transferred to or opened on multiple devices, and management over the lending period and whether or not you can print or copy the file.
Most eBooks from our digital collections use Adobe DRM, and so you need the Adobe ID to access the eBook through Adobe Digital Editions and open it on your eReader. When a computer, eReader, or mobile device is authorized with an Adobe ID, it lets the DRM in the file (in this case, the eBook) know that it can be opened on that device.
Once you have installed the OverDrive App on your smartphone or tablet, you will be prompted to create an OverDrive Account.
Your OverDrive Account:
Authorizes the App, which permits you to open copyrighted materials on your mobile device.
Can be used to sync your bookmarks across your devices, so you can stop reading on your smartphone and start again at the same place on your tablet if they have the same OverDrive Account.
You can also use the OverDrive Account to authorize Adobe Digital Editions, so that you are able to open and read the same eBooks on your mobile device as on your computer or eReader.
Find more information about authorizing Adobe Digital Editions with an OverDrive Account from OverDrive Help.
If your email address is associated your library account. you can reset your PIN/Password online, through the following link https://orl.bibliocommons.com/user/forgot.
If you need further help, call library staff at 1-844-649-8127.
To renew your card, simply call your nearest library branch to confirm your contact information, and your card is renewed! Be sure to have your library card handy when you contact staff to renew.
Libraries are operating under a few challenges in terms of building a digital collection: Some publishers will not release digital versions of their books to readers at the same time as the print edition. Some major publishers are not currently selling digital books to public libraries. Library associations are working with publishers to work out a process to acquire digital books where publishers, libraries and readers all benefit.
eBooks and eAudiobooks are still relatively new formats, and there is minimal extra funding for these new formats. This means we have to reallocate funds within our acquisitions budget for digital books. Although we are seeing large increases in usage, it is still a relatively small percentage of our total circulation, so we are trying to find the right balance between traditional and new formats.
You can read more about the challenges that libraries face with regards to purchasing digital books from the following link, https://econtentforlibraries.org.
From the Libby App:
After you complete a search, you can narrow your results by tapping Refine to show only books currently available to borrow, tap Availability, and select Available Now.
From the ORL eBooks|OverDrive site, https://orl.overdrive.com or the OverDrive App:
There are a few possible explanations:
The hold for the book was placed with a different library card number. If there are multiple cards in your household, please check if the hold is available under a different library card number.
If you got a replacement library card after you had placed the hold, the hold should transfer to the new card number.
If you still do not see your hold, please forward your emailed hold notification to help@orl.bc.ca, along with the following information: Your current library card number, your old library card number (if you know it).
Libraries purchase licences for digital books. Each licence is like one print copy of a book, in that only one person can check it out at a time. If you would like to borrow a popular eBook or eAudiobook, you may need to place a hold for it like you would a popular print book.
Yes!
From the ORL eBooks website or the OverDrive app:
Yes, you can renew your digital book if there are no holds on it.
Three days before your book is due, a Request again link will become available under the cover image of the borrowed book on the Loans page of your account on the ORL eBooks website.
Click on the Request again link to open the form. Confirm your email address and click the Submit. You will get an email when the title becomes available for check-out at the end of its initial loan period, after which you can check out the title again from the Holds page in your account and re-download it.
If there are holds on the book, filling out the Request again form will add you to the wait list for the book.
These options appear next to your title on your Loans page in your account on the ORL eBooks website.
Download option: downloads the book to Adobe Digital Editions on a computer.
Add to app option: downloads the book to the OverDrive app on a tablet or smartphone.
Read now or Listen nowoption: downloads the digital book as a format that can be enjoyed on the web browser of your tablet or computer. The format does not require that you register your device with an Adobe ID or OverDrive Account.
Font/text size can be changed for books in the EPUB format, but not in the PDF format. Log into your ORL eBooks account to check the format of the eBook.
If there are other copies of the eBook available to download, or if there is no one on the wait list for the eBook, you may try returning the book, and then checking it out again in the EPUB format.
Find out more about eBook formats differences from OverDrive Help
From Adobe Digital Editions, right click on the image of the eBook and select Return Borrowed Item.
Finally, click on Return to confirm.
Unfortunately, eBooks in the Open EPUB or Open PDF formats cannot be returned early from Adobe Digital Editions or the OverDrive App.
You can log into your account on the ORL eBooks website to verify if the title in question is in the Open EPUB or Open PDF format. The format is listed next to the cover image of your borrowed book on your Loans page.
Only books in the EPUB and PDF formats can be returned early.
MP3 formatted eAudiobooks can be returned early using the OverDrive for Windows program (eAudiobooks cannot be returned early from the OverDrive for Mac program).
From the OverDrive program, click on the eAudiobook you would like to return.
Click the Delete button, then click on Return/Delete to return the eAudiobook to the library collection and to remove it from your ORL eBooks Account.
The steps to return digital books are different depending on your smartphone or tablet, please check out the following links from the OverDrive Help website for specific instructions:
Call us at 1-844-649-8127.
Email help@orl.bc.ca, in your email, please include:
Note: If your ORL card has expired or you have outstanding late fees of $20.00 or more, you'll be unable to borrow from this collection. You can pay fees online. To renew an expired card, call your library branch.