Now I'm lost NOOK tablet

[HarryM1BYT]

It arrived this morning - NOOK HD+ Plus 32Gb. It runs a version of Android. All seems to be functioning as it should, but I'm struggling with the main reason for which I bought it - borrowing books from the online local public library to read....

I have a library account, I can login, browse and read the books in a browser. The library page suggests an app for downloading / handling books by the name of OverDrive. There are various versions of OD for different platforms, including the NOOK, but if I try downloading it, it says only available in the US.

If I click on a book to download it rather than read it in my browser it downloads files like this [name of book].acsm.

I'm guessing the OD picks up those files and allows me to then read the books, but other than that, I'm stuck - your ideas please?

Next question...

The library allows me to 'borrow' the digital version of the book for a limited number of days and talks about 'returning the book'. It also mentions something about there being no fine. How do I 'return' them, do they just expire or what exactly. The libraries help, is not very clear.

[pm77]

Harry,

Not sure if you have, but try here for the playstore edition (according to the nook website you can download apps from here)

Then instructions for overdrive (once/if it has installed)

1. Download and install the Overdrive app on your NOOK Tablet.
2. Start Overdrive.
3. With your NOOK Tablet, go to a store or library where you have an account.
4. Choose and download book files to your device.

If you’re borrowing from a library, the book may come with a time limit. If you’re buying from a store, the cost is charged to the account associated with the Overdrive app.

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by pm77

Harry,

Not sure if you have, but try here for the playstore edition (according to the nook website you can download apps from here)

Then instructions for overdrive (once/if it has installed)

1. Download and install the Overdrive app on your NOOK Tablet.
2. Start Overdrive.
3. With your NOOK Tablet, go to a store or library where you have an account.
4. Choose and download book files to your device.

If you’re borrowing from a library, the book may come with a time limit. If you’re buying from a store, the cost is charged to the account associated with the Overdrive app.

Thanks, that worked once - so it should work again.

OD downloaded from the above link, searched and found my local public library, filled in my account details chose my book and I was able to read it. Took a while to download though.

Thanks very much!

[EDIT] What I though was the download progress bar was the bar showing my progress through reading the book. I need L plates for this

[pm77]

No problem Harry. The download speed is probably due to the library having a slow connection for loaning books. They would probably prefer you went there (low vistor numbers may give ammo for the council to close it)

Must be a short book if you've read it that quickly

[HarryM1BYT]

No, it was just my misunderstanding the gauge when reading the books, for the percent downloaded.

The downloads last just a second or two to complete. I thought it might just download the section you were reading, but it does download the entire book. I'm very impressed with it and there are many thousands of copyright free books to download and it looks as if it should be able to store thousands in its memory.

[DerekS]

Originally Posted by HarryM1BYT

No, it was just my misunderstanding the gauge when reading the books, for the percent downloaded.

The downloads last just a second or two to complete. I thought it might just download the section you were reading, but it does download the entire book. I'm very impressed with it and there are many thousands of copyright free books to download and it looks as if it should be able to store thousands in its memory.

Ive just tried our local library, (Whitchurch, shrops).
They sem to have a different system, needs Adobe digital reader to be downloaded. THey only allow 4 books at a time , time limit is 20 days , after which the book is back in the library for others to use . They seem to treat digital books the same as paper books, only one person has a book at a time . Strange system . After 20 days I assume it is not 'returned' but just not availabe on your system . So you wont have 'thousands' stored.
I too was surprised at the d/load speed, in fact I didnt believe it so klicked again, and got 2 downloads . Just seconds for a complete book !!!
And you cant 'return' a book either ! It just expires after the time limit.

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by DerekS

Ive just tried our local library, (Whitchurch, shrops).
They sem to have a different system, needs Adobe digital reader to be downloaded. THey only allow 4 books at a time , time limit is 20 days , after which the book is back in the library for others to use . They seem to treat digital books the same as paper books, only one person has a book at a time . Strange system . After 20 days I assume it is not 'returned' but just not availabe on your system . So you wont have 'thousands' stored.
I too was surprised at the d/load speed, in fact I didnt believe it so klicked again, and got 2 downloads . Just seconds for a complete book !!!
And you cant 'return' a book either ! It just expires after the time limit.

I did mean thousands - If you look around the library site a bit more, it will maybe have a button for the books which there are no restrictions on how long you can keep them, books which have run out of copyright - which you can download and keep for ever, rather than borrow.

If your library doesn't link to the free books, you can use OverDrive to find other libraries which do offer the free ones. Many thousands of them, some it seems going back to the middle ages. Fiction, none fiction, scientific, published diaries from the first world war.

The book search system was not very refined though, just an option to search typing H G Wells in brought up thousands of books, most not related at all to your search term. It seems to be a very fuzzy search.

Rather than going straight to the library website, I just open OverDrive, which itself goes to the library site (you can set it up with several libraries), then just search for anything you want and click on them.

I thought I read that my library allows you to take 6 restricted time books out at a time. The allowed time seems to vary depending on the book and I thought it seemed to allow you to renew them too. I've not really explored it fully and the libraries Help doesn't help very much.

[HarryM1BYT]

I've checked a bit deeper into the library book loan system and here is what my local library system says.

I can have a max of 6 books. I set the default loan period of 7, 14, or 21 days per book.

My guess is that there is only one or a limited number of copies of each book on the system and if it/they are out, you have to wait. There seems to be a system to reserve books of some sort.