One of the perks of subscribing to Amazon Prime is the ability to borrow one book a month from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
It’s a great way to access some free reading without having to drive to the library. You also don’t have to worry about returning the books – you can keep them as long as you like – you just can’t borrow a new book until you return the one you have.
There’s just one small catch. Amazon doesn’t really make borrowing books very simple. When I mentioned this in my post Is Amazon Prime Worth It?, a reader asked if I could share how I access the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. I figure if there are two of us who struggle with this, there are probably more, so I’ve come up with some tips that I hope will help you access some free reading with your Amazon Prime Membership.
How to Borrow Books from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
There are currently more than 265,000 titles available to borrow from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. But there are two things you must have before you borrow books: You need to have an Amazon Prime
On a Kindle e-reader
- Go to the Kindle Store on your Kindle device (look for the shopping cart icon).
- Click on Browse All Categories
- Click on Kindle Owners’ Lending Library
- Browse for books by category. You can sort them a variety of ways including by popularity and sub-category.
- Click on the title of a book you want to read. Then click on “Borrow for Free” to start your download. You’ll get to keep the book until you chose to return it. You’ll also get a message saying when you are eligible to access another free title.
On a Kindle Fire
The process is very similar to the Kindle e-reader.
- Go to the Home page and click on the “Books” icon.
- Click on “Store.”
- Then click on the category labeled Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
- Browse for books by category. You can sort them a variety of ways including by popularity and sub-category.
- Click on the title of a book you want to read. Then click on “Borrow for Free.” The book will download to your device.
Amazon has a full Kindle Owners’ Lending Library help page
I personally have found that trying to search the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library for specific books using these methods is a challenge. (I guess that makes sense since Amazon wants to SELL you books, not loan you books!)
So if I’m looking for a specific title or topic, I’ll search for that in the Kindle Store on my Kindle device. Then I look for books labeled with “Prime.” Most of the titles that are labeled with “Prime” are part of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Just make sure that you are borrowing the book and not buying it when you click on the title you want.
Of course, if you don’t have Amazon Prime or a Kindle Device, or you just want to own your own books forever, Amazon has a wide variety of free Kindle books. This selection changes constantly, so what I do is visit the Best Sellers in Kindle eBooks
Between the free Kindle books and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, you’ll find plenty of free reading to entertain, educate, and inspire you.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for this post! I don’t have a Kindle device — I have one of the free apps — so this seems to explain why this library has been invisible to me.
I think it’s a bit unfair… If you’re paying for Prime, they should give it to you… I don’t like that you can’t use other devices because sometimes I’ll be reading something on my Kindle, then be out and about with time to kill and want to continue reading on my phone, but I can’t. I’ve heard rumors that eventually they may give a Kindle away with a Prime membership, but I’ll believe it when I see it!