Kindle users can now download eBooks free from area libraries.  The eBook collection of the libraries of NOBLE, the North of Boston Library Exchange, is now compatible with the Amazon Kindle. Beebe Library patrons can now download popular and classic eBooks to a Kindle or any mobile device running the free Kindle app, such as iPhone, iPad, Android and more.

The NOBLE collection of eBooks and audiobooks continue to be accessible for PC or Mac computers and popular mobile devices such as a Smartphone, MP3 player and eBook readers such as the Nook and the Sony Reader.  The books are available to residents of member communities and staff and students of member academic libraries at no charge.

NOBLE has doubled the size of its eBook and audiobook collection over the past year to meet rapidly growing demand.  The collection is funded by the 28 member libraries of NOBLE, a non-profit organization founded by area libraries collaborating to share resources and provide electronic resources regionally and cost-effectively and improve service.

Kindle users can browse NOBLE’s collection at overdrive.noblenet.org using a PC or Mac, check out titles using their library card, and select “Get for Kindle” to deliver eBooks to their Amazon account for transfer to their Kindle or any device running the free Kindle app. The free library titles are available for two week loans.

“We are pleased to expand our eBook loans to cover all the major readers,” said NOBLE Executive Director Ronald Gagnon. “Kindle is the most popular ereader today and we are glad that we are now able to serve them. The eBook and audiobook service has grown steadily in the three years since it started, and the pace is really escalating lately,” reports Gagnon. “September’s usage was 13% higher than August use, and August was our best month ever, all that before the full effect of Kindle users.”

More information on free downloading of library eBook titles can be found on Beebe Library’s web site at wakefieldlibrary.org/. In the past year, Beebe Library patrons have been among the highest users of eBooks among all NOBLE libraries.

The public libraries of NOBLE serve the communities of Beverly, Danvers, Everett, Gloucester, Lynn, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Melrose, Peabody, Reading, Revere, Salem, Saugus, Stoneham, Swampscott, Wakefield and Winthrop.  NOBLE also serves the academic communities of Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, Endicott College in Beverly, Gordon College in Wenham, Merrimack College in North Andover, Middlesex Community College in Bedford and Lowell, Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, North Shore Community College in Danvers and Lynn, Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill and Lawrence, Phillips Academy in Andover and Salem State University.