Columbia Library's Electronic Resources

Need help? To make an appointment for one-on-one assistance with your eReader or smartphone, call us at 618-281-4237.

OverDrive | Hoopla | Cloud Library | NewsBank | Educate Station | HeritageHub | Other Free eBook Resources

Enjoy free eBooks and eAudio-books of new and popular literature for anywhere, anytime. 

Access OverDrive
Specifics
 
  • No late fees, just return when finished or item will automatically return on due date. 
  • Available on computer and mobile devices. 
  • All your loans, notes, bookmarks, and reading progress sync across your devices.
  • Download ebooks and audiobooks for offline reading, or stream them to save space.
Download App

OverDrive App:

Libby App:

Getting Started
  1. On the website or app, sign in, select your library (Columbia Public Library), and enter your library card barcode and 4-digit PIN number. 
  2. Click agree to terms and log in.
  3. Browse the collection, check out a book, or place a hold. 

Libby setup instructions & help. 

OverDrive setup instructions.

Computer instructions & help.

The classic OverDrive app is recommended if using an older device or a Fire tablet, require the use of a screen reader, or want to view our selection of streaming videos

Highlights & Accessibility Features
  • Libby’s ebook reader makes it easy to customize how you read, adjust the font size, book layout, and lighting. You can also add bookmarks, create notes, and highlights, and define words. 
  • Skip forwards or backwards with a swipe, increase playback speed up to 3x, and set sleep timer until end of chapter or for 5, 10, 30, or more minutes. 
  • OpenDyslexic font increases readability of text for readers with dyslexia. Learn how to enable or disable. 

Instantly borrow digital movies, music, eBooks, comics, TV shows and more, 24/7 your library card.

Access Hoopla
Specifics
  • Limit of 4 items per month per library card. 
  • Checkout — Borrow with no holds or waitlists. 
  • No late fees, just return when finished or item will automatically return on due date. 
  • No waiting, titles can be streamed immediately, or downloaded to phones or tablets for offline enjoyment later. 
  • Stream through your desktop browser or the Hoopla mobile app. 
Download App
Getting Started
  • To create an account on website or app
  • Login with your library card barcode and 4-digit PIN number. 
  • Instantly, read, listen, and watch with your library card.

Hoopla How-To-Guides: 

Highlights & Accessibility Features
  • Stream though Chromecast, AppleTV, androidtv, firetv, and Roku. 

eBooks & eAudiobooks for all ages!

Access Cloud Library
Specifics
  • Checkout up to 5 books at one time, each for 21 days. 
  • No late fees, just return when finished or item will automatically return on due date. 
  • Available on computer and mobile devices.
  • The Cloud Library app can be installed on 5 different devices. 
  • Cloud Library eBooks cannot be read on Kindle eReaders, such as the Paperwhite or Voyage at this time. 
Download App
Getting Started
  1. Login to website or download app, select your state, library (Illinois Heartland Library System), and enter your library card barcode and 4-digit PIN number.
  2. Browse the collection, check out books, or place holds. 
Cloud Library How-To Videos & FAQ
 
Highlights & Accessibility Features
  • Cloud Library offers in-app reading features. Access by opening ebook and pressing middle of screen. From there, you can adjust how contents is displayed, the brightness level, font size, margins, and day/night mode, lock rotation, and more. 
  • Please note that as of March 2017 the Nook HD and HD+ are no longer compatible with the Cloud Library app from Google Play, but you can use your device’s browser (such as Google Chrome) to navigate to Cloud Library and do all your searching and reading from there. Your device will need to stay connected to wi-fi to use the browser reading function.
Read newspapers from around the country with NewsBank!

 Search current and archived issues with full-color newspaper pages, full-text articles and content only published online. Also available remotely 24/7 on any device.
Access NewsBank
Specifics

Not sure where to start or how to search? Learn how to use NewsBank for everyday reading or research by clicking here for video tutorials.

Getting Started​

Just enter your library card barcode for easy access. 

Highlights & Accessibility Features​

Search by newspaper title in the A-Z Source List, browse by suggested topics, or look through back issues using keywords and dates. 

Access Local News

Explore area history through local news, events, and people.

Republic-Times (Waterloo, IL)

Clarion Journals

USA Today

USA Today Collection – 1987-Current

The Kansas City Star

The Kansas City Star Collection – 1991-Current

United States Obituaries

1704 - Today

HeritageHub

The premier collection of obituaries and death notices
for in-depth genealogical research

Columbia Star Archives

Newspaper.com now has the old Columbia Star newspaper archives available for online viewing.

Educate Station content was created by a team of experienced and passionate educators from across the United States. Their educators bring vast subject-matter expertise, teaching credentials, and many years of experience as classroom teachers and curriculum developers. Through the content they create, they aim to provide ready-to-use, hands-on activities for kids to do at home or at school. The Educate Station team is committed to inspiring joyful learning and supporting kids, teachers, and parents.

Access Educate Station

Free electronic resources online:

Hathi Trust Digital Library: Access more than 17 million of digitized items preserved by academic and research libraries from around the world.

International Children’s Digital Library: Read from a collection of 4600 plus books in 59 languages. Start your search by clicking ‘Read Books’.

Internet Archive: a library of fiction, popular books, children’s books, historical texts, and academic books based on a wide range of interests. Includes archives of old radio shows too.

LibriVox: Thousands of free public domain audio-books for all ages.

ManyBooks: Free library of 50,000 plus eBooks consisting of literary classics from the Project Gutenburg archives and works of many self-published authors.

Project Gutenberg: A library of over 60,000 free eBooks of the world’s greatest literature published before 1924 and/or the U.S. copyright has expired.

ProPlay: Read play scripts, which have received professional productions available free-of-charge on the Web, to encourage their further production.

Standard eBooks:A collection of high quality, carefully formatted, accessible, open source, and free public domain eBooks.

Unite for Literacy: Free digital access to more than 400 children’s picture books that are narrated in more than 40 languages.