BorrowBox: A Library in the Palm of Your Hand

BorrowBox: A Library in the Palm of Your Hand

Any book in the palm of your hand? For free? Does that sounds too good to be true? In fact it’s a reality for over one million readers around Australia.

BorrowBox makes it easy to borrow a book any time, no matter where you are.

Finding it difficult to get your hands on your favourite new releases during lockdown? Don’t worry, you can borrow a book from your local library with just a few clicks.

Thanks to Bolinda, pioneers of digital borrowing, the technology is now extremely user friendly. Back in the early days – around 2006 – the technology for downloading audio and ebooks was advancing but not straightforward. Bolinda sought to make borrowing books digitally as simple as possible for users.

BorrowBox is now available online or as an app you can download to your phone or device. It allows you to borrow either audiobooks or ebooks from your local library any time of day from anywhere. All you need is an email address, your library barcode and a PIN number. Once you’ve downloaded the books you don’t even need to remain online.

The best way to understand how BorrowBox works is to think of it exactly as you would a traditional library, only with audiobooks and ebooks instead of physical books.

It’s as simple as logging in with your details, and you can access all the audio and ebook content that your library subscribes to. For most libraries, that’s a lot of books.

If someone else has a title you want, you can reserve it and get your copy when it has been returned. If you haven’t finished it after your loan period, you can renew it. And if you finish it early, you can return it and get another one.

Also, the authors are remunerated in the right way – the same way as traditional libraries – so everyone wins.

If there’s a book that’s not available, you can simply ask you library to order it. And all this content is free, just as it is from a regular library. It’s easy to find the books you want because you can browse the categories that interest you or enter the author or title into the search function.

The library chooses books depending on its demographic, working with Bolinda to select the best content – and there’s a huge range to select from. BorrowBox is perfect for all ages – from pre-school to 90 plus. iPad_65_Storey_Treehouse-min

Bolinda audio, an Australian company based in Melbourne, has been a publisher of audiobooks for 25 years, with phenomenal overseas success as well. Read more in our article on Bolinda audio here)

Audiobooks are here to stay, and they’re booming. You can play a book in the car while you’re driving or if you go for a walk you can listen to a book on your phone. Also, they’re a great tool for reluctant readers, or children who have reading difficulties.

So join to audio revolution. Tell us, do you “read” audiobooks?

For BorrowBox click here

To read our previous article on audio books and interview with Bolinda audio CEO Rebecca Herrmann click here

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    1. Shirley Perrett says:

      On my iPad I can only search by title, but would prefer by author! How,please!!

    2. Lenore Grunsell says:

      Audio books are fantastic while driving, and help pass the time. But I get annoyed when I borrow one and it’s full of expletives; it spoils the experience. Having to listen to the narrator exclaim “Holy s..t” all the time does not make for pleasant driving. For instance “The Store” was one such book; I just turned it off after a while.

    3. […] have posted previously about using BorrowBox from your local library but this is just a short reminder of how great a facility this […]

    4. peter tibbits says:

      …..books wont download

    5. Michelle says:

      Im travelling to USA. Will it worl? I don’t want to carry books for the kids. Does internet have to be available while reading or u just download and its there. Ie can read in a plane

    6. Monica says:

      I love Borrow Box& usually have no trouble. But I am currently having trouble as the pages won’t turn. I have to get out of the app & start the process again for each page. This book is going to take forever.

    7. Sonya Thomas says:

      Do you have wish list like Overdrive, and can I down load more than one book. I know I cannot havve more than 1 library unlike Overdrive where I have several.

    8. Rosie says:

      Borrowbox ( library )
      Please seperate the kids books in amongst the adult books ..it is SO frustrating opening a book on borrow box and finding it is a childs book
      The classification needs to be improved !
      Thankyou

    9. Rosey says:

      Hoorah I have found a place to say I go to BB every day
      I saw some remarks here and I agree
      Please let us have access to good classical authors and less rubbish
      And seperate kids books from the classics !!!!
      many of the new books will not last the test of time unlike Strachy Wills Croft Heyer SymonsDickens Christie Dexter Archer etc etc
      Did you know I can download good classic authors now on utube ?
      You are better than libra !
      Please let us have some GOOD CLASSIC LITERATURE including biographies and histories !
      Thanks Rosey

    10. Debra Chambers says:

      I cannot understand why one has to wait for an audiobook to be returned before it can be lent out again. Surely once purchased it can be downloaded by multiple people? It’s only really going half way to being accessible to all as some of the audiobooks are a 2yr wait?