Many of our ebook readers have already discovered Freading. It's a great alternative to our Overdrive collection with a wide selection of titles from a growing list of publishers. Freading definitely has something for everyone, but romance fans have discovered that their especially strong collection of steamy titles is not to be missed. But the best thing about Freading is that there are never any waiting lists.  Freading has a unique business model that allows multiple people to read a given title at once.  That's great news for readers! 

If you've tried Freading already, you know that it works on a unique token system.  Each library card holder is allotted a certain number of tokens per week to "spend" on ebooks of their choice (more on that below). Each ebook "costs" between one and four tokens. The number of tokens charged for each title is determined by the publishers. You can "spend" your tokens each week or let them accrue over a four week period to get higher value titles. If you haven't used all of your tokens within four weeks, they disappear and you start over with your original allotment on week five.

Now the really good news: we've just doubled the number of tokens you get each week from two to four! This will give you even more choices and let you read more of those four-token ebooks. Grab your Free Library card and PIN and visit our Digital Media page to get started!

Tags: Romance, databases, ebooks

Romance Writers of America have just announced the winners of the 2008 RITA awards:

RITA awards, named after RWA's first president, Rita Clay Estrada, are presented annually to the best published romance novels of the year.  We have copies of all the winners (or on order) at the Free Library of Philadelphia:  

Best First Book: Dead Girls Are Easy by Terri Garey

Historical Romance: Lessons of Desire by Madeline Hunter

Regency Historical Romance: The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn 

Paranormal Romance: Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward

Novel with Strong Romantic Elements: Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Romantic Suspense: Ice Blue by Anne Stuart

Young Adult Romance: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Contemporary Single Title Romance: Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins

Contemporary Series Romance: Snowbound by Janice Kay Johnson

Contemporary Series Romance: Suspense/Adventure: Treasure by Helen

Inspirational Romance: A Touch of Grace by Linda Goodnight

Romance Novella: “Born in My Heart” by Jennifer Greene in Like Mother, Like Daughter

Tags: Awards, Romance