For many Philadelphians, library access to free ebooks and audiobooks has been a lifesaver during the pandemic. We may not be able to go anywhere we want, but we can travel vicariously through someone else’s adventures or at least get inspired to declutter the spaces in which we’re stuck.

eBooks and audiobooks have been so popular during lockdown periods that libraries across the country have seen a surge in demand for digital titles. Since March 16, over 21,500 new users have registered for an OverDrive account at the Free Library. That’s a 48% increase from last year!

If you’re one of these new users, you may notice that while we have a wide variety of ebooks and audiobooks for adults, teens, and children, we don’t have everything. If you have ever wanted to ask if we could add a specific title to our collection, now you can through OverDrive’s Recommend to Library feature.

If you see a title that you’d like to read that we do not own, you can recommend we add it to our collection. Learn how by watching this short video or following these steps:

1. Run a search in your library's digital collection.
    
2. On the results page, select Recommend to Library under the "Availability" filter. Titles in the OverDrive catalog that your library doesn't own are added to your results.
   
3. To tell which titles aren't part of the digital collection, look for a Not Owned banner and Recommend link. Click or tap Recommend to recommend a title.
   If prompted, sign in to your library.
   
    
4. If prompted, enter and confirm your email address. Then, select Recommend.
   
5. If your library buys the title, you'll be added to its waitlist and receive an email when your hold is available.

To see the titles you've recommended, select , then Recommendations.

Your library may limit the number of titles you can recommend in a given time period. You can see how many more titles you can recommend (or when you can recommend titles again) on your Recommendations page.

Please note, the Recommend to Library feature is only available via the OverDrive website or the classic OverDrive app. This feature is not available via Libby.

Are you one of the new OverDrive/Libby users who has registered since the pandemic began? If so, tell us in the comments section why you signed up and how your experience has been so far.

Happy e-reading!