East Riding Libraries have seen a huge 329% increase in the number of eBooks downloaded since March 2020, and a 95.5% increase in the number of audiobooks downloaded free with their library memberships.
Librarian Pamela Taylor-Bramwell explained: “We’ve been delighted to have welcomed over 4,500 new members (in addition to our 45,000 existing members!) since March 2020.
They have all been able to access our extensive online library of books, audiobooks, magazines and newspapers throughout the lockdowns from the comfort of their homes, with thousands of items of reading material all free to download.
“People have realised how much money it saves, instead of buying books or paying for audiobook/magazine and newspaper subscriptions – why bother when it’s available free?!”
The top downloaded eBook in the last year was David Baldacci’s fast-paced holiday novel, ‘The Christmas Train’, closely followed by Kate Morton’s enchanting thriller, ‘The Lake House’, both downloaded over 350 times each! There are books to suit every taste though, with over 6000 eBooks, and the same again in Audiobooks.
Also available free with your East Riding Libraries card is access to over 50 popular digital magazines including Hello! ,Top Gear, National Geographic, Men’s Fitness, Woman and Home, and many more – over 129,000 magazines were downloaded free by East Riding Library members in the last year!
In May 2020, East Riding Libraries also added free access to PressReader for library members, meaning local, national and international newspapers can all be downloaded free. This has been exceptionally popular, with over 33,000 newspapers being downloaded since its launch.
To join online, visit https://www.eastridinglibraries.co.uk/memberships/ and for easy step by step guides to get set up for the digital library services for eBooks, Audiobooks, Newspapers and Magazines, visit https://www.eastridinglibraries.co.uk/libraries-online/
