Digital Media Guide

Borrowing ebooks and audiobooks, downloading podcasts, and streaming media such as movies, music, and even comic books, from Free Library has never been easier. In this guide, we'll offer tips and information to get you started or troubleshoot any issues you may be having access downloadable and streaming media and digital titles from our catalog.

Guides

Digital Media Guide

Links

  • Google Play

    Enjoy millions of the latest Android apps, games, music, movies, TV, books, magazines & more, including the Overdrive Media Console and Hoopla apps.

  • iTunes App Store

    Browse and download apps to your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch from the App Store, including the Overdrive Media Console and Hoopla apps.

  • Kindle App Store

    Instant access to thousands of the most popular free and best-selling apps and games, including the Overdrive Media Console and Hoopla apps.

  • NOOK Store

    Your one-stop-shop for all things NOOK.

ebook Classics by StaffPicks

Great public domain reads you can download for free.

Metamorphosis cover
Becoming Jane Eyre cover
Oliver Twist cover
Pride and prejudice cover
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
picture of dorian gray cover

View the full list

Latest Audiobooks by FreeLibrary

Latest Audibooks added to our collections.

Metro girl cover
The time traveler's wife cover
Wicked prey cover
The buried giant cover
Girl in a band a memoir cover
The whites a novel cover

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Electronic Resources

Upcoming Events

Blog Posts

Don't miss these upcoming events that will feature LGBTQ+ speakers.

Author Events Celebrates Pride Month

June is Pride Month and the Free Library’s Author Events series has an extensive archive of podcasts and videos to help you celebrate a diverse range of writers working in politics, fiction, health and fitness, literary fiction,…

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Explore our catalog for these more LGBTQ+ titles and more!

LGBTQ+ Middle Grade and YA ebooks and Audiobooks

Here are five ebook and audiobook titles about identity, acceptance, love, and loss to consider this month as we celebrate those journeys with our friends, families, and ourselves.   King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callander…

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Effective June 30, 2021, we will no longer be offering Kanopy and Hoopla services to our patrons.

Kanopy and Hoopla Access Ends June 30, 2021

Effective June 30, 2021, we will no longer be offering Kanopy and Hoopla services to our patrons. Instead, the Free Library will use the funding for those subscriptions to support our collections of physical materials in neighborhood…

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Lee Morgan, a product of Philly public schools, and one of the all-time great technicians on the trumpet

Philly Jazz Legends: Lee Morgan

This is the seventh in a series of posts  highlighting major figures in jazz history who were from Philly (even if most ended up in New York City). A virtual book discussion of Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American…

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There are so many kinds of greens!

Greens Across Tables

Thank you to Nourishing Literacy (NL) team member Carolyn for writing this blog post! In addition to sharing her experience and findings, Carolyn has included some of the activities and approaches that we use in NL. The NL team enjoys…

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Explore the entire Spring Author Events lineup in the calendar.

Spring has Sprung with New Upcoming Author Events!

Spring has sprung, and so has the Free Library’s Author Events calendar! Our events are, of course, still virtual, so you can enjoy our diverse array of authors from the comfort of wherever you’re social distancing. Most are…

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OverDrive users will have access to over 3,300 magazine titles in over 20 languages

Introducing OverDrive Magazines!

In August, we announced big changes on the horizon now that OverDrive has acquired the RBdigital platform. If you remember, RBdigital audiobooks moved to our OverDrive platform. Now comes the second and final change: RBdigital magazines…

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Don't miss intriguing documentaries about music and hip hop culture on Kanopy!

Memories of the Golden Age of Hip Hop

I bomb atomically, Socrates’ philosophies and hypotheses Can’t define how I be dropping these mockeries Lyrically perform armed robbery - "Triumph (feat. Cappadonna)" by Wu-Tang Clan, 1997 I am a rap fan.…

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Listen to Black voices, perspectives, and topics from the Author Events podcast archive.

Black Authors and Voices: Podcasts from the Author Events Archive

To commemorate and celebrate the scope of Black History Month, you can jump into our Author Events podcast archive , which dates back almost 25 years! There you’ll find an astonishing wealth of Black voices, perspectives, and…

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It's the Muppet Show! YAAAAAAY!

Digital Media Spotlight | The Muppets

2021 marks 45 years since The Muppet Show debuted on television and today Disney+ is bringing back all 120 episodes streaming on-demand! As Kermit the Frog would say—arms flailing— "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" The Muppets…

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The HistoryMakers Digital Archive is the nation's largest African American video oral history collection. It provides high-quality primary source content, with fully searchable transcripts, from thousands of people from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences whose stories are worthy of remembrance.

Introducing the HistoryMakers Digital Archive!

What do Guion Bluford , Angela Davis , Hank Aaron , Maya Angelou , Katherine G. Johnson , Eartha Kitt , Sonny Rollins , Gordon Parks , Ntozake Shange , and E. Lynn Harris all have in common? They are phenomenal Black people who have…

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Explore the Free Library virtually.

There’s Always Something New to Discover at the Free Library!

The first Saturday of February is Take Your Child to the Library Day! This holiday , invented by two librarians, encourages families to make a trip to their neighborhood library with their young learners leading the way. As an added…

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Page spread from: Black lives 1900 - W.E.B. Du Bois at the Paris Exposition

Art Book Club Online

The Art Department is now hosting a virtual book and art-making club and we're excited to kick off our next topic! Art Book Club Online: Picturing Information starts Tuesday, February 2, meeting 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays…

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There are so many kinds of squash!

Squash Across Tables

Thank you to Nourishing Literacy (NL) team member Carolyn for writing this blog post! In addition to sharing her experience and findings, Carolyn has included some of the activities and approaches that we use in NL. The Nourishing…

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Take a look at the National Film Registry's yearly recommendations and selections to be preserved in the Library of Congress!

Newest Additions to the National Film Registry

Seen any good movies lately? If you've exhausted watching everything on your streaming media platforms of choice, take a look at the National Film Registry 's yearly recommendations and selections to be preserved in the Library…

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Hosts of Story Search, Andrea Lemoins and Joe Shemtov

Story Search from Special Collections: An Interview by Hannah Cho

Hannah Cho is a University of Pennsylvania Work-Study student from Davis, CA. During the Fall semester, she studied, recorded, and edited the Story Search podcasts remotely from South Korea. I’ve always been more of a talker…

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Have you read any of the above titles? What’s the best book you’ve read this year? Let us know in the comments!

What Philadelphia Read in 2020

The longest year ever is coming to a close. (Amen.) That means that it’s time to peruse some Best of 2020 book lists! Across the web you can find tons of these kinds of lists. Two of my favorites are Book Riot’s Best Books…

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The Mandalorian and Grogu

This Is The Way... to Mandalorian and Star Wars Reads

Space western adventures! Out of this world creatures! And one cute green baby (Yoda)! We're talking about The Mandalorian , the latest installment in the ever-expanding Star Wars universe of characters and stories. The season 2…

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You can now ask about adding specific titles through OverDrive’s Recommend to Library feature!

How to Recommend a Digital Book

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…

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Podcasts

Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake | <i>The Fifth Domain: Defending Our Country, Our Companies, and Ourselves in the Age of Cyber Threats</i>
Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake | The Fifth Domain: Defending Our Country, Our Companies, and Ourselves in the Age of Cyber Threats
Feminista Jones | <i>Reclaiming Our Space: How Black Feminists Are Changing the World from the Tweets to the Streets</i> with DaMaris B. Hill | <i>A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing</i>
Feminista Jones | Reclaiming Our Space: How Black Feminists Are Changing the World from the Tweets to the Streets with DaMaris B. Hill | A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing
Ken Auletta | <i>Frenemies: The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (and Everything Else)</i>
Ken Auletta | Frenemies: The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (and Everything Else)
Michio Kaku | <i>The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality, and Our Destiny Beyond Earth</i>
Michio Kaku | The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality, and Our Destiny Beyond Earth
Edward Snowden in Conversation with Jeremy Scahill | The Surveillance State Then and Now
Edward Snowden in Conversation with Jeremy Scahill | The Surveillance State Then and Now