How to check out and listen to an audio book on Overdrive

I mainly use Overdrive, and have for years, to check out audio books. I had considered paying for Audible (you can get free access for 30 days to try it out), but then I joined the San Francisco library and got access to 3-4 times as many audio books as the Alameda Free Library has.

As I've covered before, you can log into the Overdrive site and check on availability. Similar to the Kindle type of books, the available audio books have a black set of headphones if they're available, and grey if not.

Note that the Janet Evanovich is the only one currently available.

To check one out, go to its page and click Borrow, as you did for the Kindle book. Also as with the Kindle book, when you click Borrow, you get a choice of formats.

MP3 is universal. WMA is a Windows-only format.

Here's a difference: you need to download the MP3 Audiobook on a computer on which you've got the Overdrive app or program. See the "Get the App" button on the right?

On your computer or iDevice, you'll want the Overdrive Media Console.

On a laptop or desktop computer: once you click Download (after choosing a format), you'll get a .odm file on your computer. Start Overdrive Media Console and do File->Open to load up the .odm file (or double-click it). Note that the audio book has not yet been downloaded. Once you've opened the .odm file in the console, you'll get a dialog to start downloading the .mp3 or .wma files onto your computer. This may take a while.

Here's the tricky part: once it's downloaded, you can use the "transfer" button to transfer the audio book onto your iPod.

I recommend against this, and here's why:

If you instead load the audio book in iTunes with cmd-O (my audio books end up in Documents->My Media in a folder with the book's title), it won't expire. You'll have it until you delete it. Copying it into iTunes in this way makes a copy and although Overdrive may delete that copy under My Media, the files in iTunes won't disappear until you overtly delete them. Cool, eh?

One last note on uploading audio books: you will have to select the files once they're uploaded to iTunes, do cmd-I (Get Info) and change their type in Options to Audiobook*.

*I tend to select "part of gapless album," "skip when shuffling," and "remember playback position." This last is the most important, I think.

I also find it useful to right-click the selected files and have it create a playlist. In my car, it makes it easy to find my audiobooks if I do this.

If you use Overdrive Media Console directly on your iPod, you will lose the book after the loan period expires. It can be useful if you don't have a computer to download to, or don't want to take that extra step. You'll have to play the audiobook from OMC rather than from iTunes.

To put the book on your iPod, hook your iPod up, select it, select "Books" and then Audiobooks. Make sure "Sync Books--Selected Books" is chosen, then scroll all the way down, and select the playlist under "Include audiobooks from playlists." Sync your iPod, and you're done!

How to get FREE audio and Kindle books

Both the Alameda Free Library and the San Francisco Public Library offer a significant number of eBooks--electronic books. I've been listening to downloaded audio books, and reading Kindle books, for free, for a few years now.

I'll deal with Kindle books first. I have an iPad with a (free) Kindle app on it. To get a Kindle book, I first go to the Overdrive site for my library. In this case, I'll show you the San Francisco Public Library's site.

Overdrive site for San Francisco Public Library

(Side note: you can get a San Francisco Public Library card just by filling out an application and appearing in person, with ID, to pick up the card. Free except for the price of transportation. I highly recommend filling out the application online to save time.)

You log in with your library card number and PIN, and it takes you to your home page.

Main Overdrive page

From there, you find a book to take out. Note that books that are available have a dark "open book" symbol, whereas those that are not currently available have a greyed-out symbol. Even if a book isn't available, it's possible that it'll be available soon. You can check on this by going to that book's page and looking on the lower right for the number of copies and the number of patrons on the hold list. Everyone has a maximum of 3 weeks' checkout (renewable only if there is no one on the hold list), so a title can be available rather quickly.

Available book. Note Copies info at lower right.

Or, in the case of something new and popular, it can take weeks. I like to put several books on hold and see what might come up.

Unavailable book. (big surprise) Note patrons-on-hold info at lower right.

You put a book on hold by going to its page and clicking "Place a Hold" (if it's unavailable) or "Borrow" (if it is). If it's available, you're shown your Holds page, with the borrowed book shown.

Latest book borrowed will be at upper left.

When you click the Download button, you usually have the option of selecting a desired format. Choose Kindle Book, then Confirm & Download.

You'll be sent to the Amazon.com site. If you're already logged in, you should see a screen like this:

Amazon checkout screen. Your Kindle devices will be in the "Deliver to:" drop-down menu.

Select the Kindle or thing-with-Kindle-app from the dropdown menu, then "Get library book."

That's it! The next time you sync your Kindle or Kindle app, you'll have the new book. (Don't forget to tap the book title to download while you have WiFi if you intend to read it away from WiFi.)

Once a previously unavailable book becomes available, the email tells you which book is now available and includes a link to get back to the site quickly. Log in again, and it'll go right to your holds page. Note that if you don't snag the book quickly, it'll go back into circulation. This is similar to putting paper books on hold; if you don't get them in a few days, they'll be removed from the hold shelf and returned to circulation.

You can check on unavailable books on the holds page. Your user number will decrease as books are returned.

I'll be waiting a long time to read Divergent.

Next, I'll show you how to return a Kindle book. It's very easy.