How to get free library books on your Kindle

Thousands of U.S. libraries have allowed members to borrow e-books for some time now, but it has mostly involved a time-consuming process of downloading each individual book and transferring it manually to your chosen reading device.

However, it’s now possible to select books from your local library’s e-book section and download them seamlessly using Amazon’s Kindle service. Approximately 11,000 U.S. libraries are participating in the program and, if you have a library card, you can start borrowing books immediately.

Here’s how it works:

• Visit your local library’s web site and click on the e-book section.

• Select the book you are interested in borrowing and click on it to see if it’s available in Kindle format.

• If the answer is yes, then click on Sign In and you will be asked to input your local library card number and security code.

• Click on Get for Kindle. You will then be redirected to Amazon.com to redeem your book.

• Once you redeem the book, you can then access it on any Kindle device, free Kindle reading app, or through the Kindle Cloud Reader.

Remember, the availability of e-books and the loan period will vary by library. You may be wait-listed if your local library does not have sufficient digital copies of the book you are interested in. You can view the status of your borrowed book on the Manage Your Kindle page on Amazon.com, which will list all books on loan, together with their dates of expiration.

If you make notes or highlights while reading a library book, you can still access those notes through kindle.amazon.com, even after a book expires. And if you check out a book again, or purchase it from Amazon.com, all your notes and highlights will appear exactly as they were before the book expired.

You will need an active Wi-Fi connection to send the book to your Kindle. Public library books cannot be delivered via a Kindle’s 3G connection.