New Hampshire Downloadable Books is a collaboration of more than 200 NH public libraries and the NH State Library. Library patrons from participating public libraries have access to a large collection of digital audiobooks, eBooks, and magazines.
Just like the books borrowed from a physical library collection, these digital titles are borrowed for 7 or 14 days. Waiting lists are common for new materials, but thousands of other titles are available for checkout at any time. Materials are automatically returned to the collection at the end of the lending period and there are never any late fees. Digital magazines are available to everyone without a waiting period.
A valid library card from a participating New Hampshire public library is required to log into this service. Check with your local public library for more details.
Before placing a hold or checking out a title, you will need to be signed into the site.
Click or tap on “Sign in.”
We recommend signing into the site with your library card number. Note that some libraries also require a PIN, password, or prefix. Please contact your local library with questions about logging into the service.
After signing into the site, the homepage reloads and shows account options. In your account, you will find your currently checked out items, holds, wish list, the titles you have rated, your borrowing history, and account settings.
You may only have three eBooks or audiobooks checkout at a time. (A fourth item, even if it is being held for you, may not be checked out.)
Audiobook titles are checked out by default for 7 days.
eBooks titles are checked out by default for 14 days. It is possible to change the default lending period between 7 and 14 days. See below.
Most items can be returned to the collection early.
If you typically need more (or less) time to read or listen, you can change your default lending period to 7 or 14 days from “My Account >> Settings.” The darker color is the active period setting.
Changing the default lending period only affects new checkouts. The lending period of any items previously checked out cannot be changed.
Note that the NHDB does not own videos, but a few individual libraries do own video titles.
Additionally, the checkout period can be changed prior to checking out a title when viewing the item record. (Left, OverDrive App -- Right, new Libby App)
In "Holds" you will find any items you have placed on hold.
You may have five items on hold at any time.
Items that are not currently available for immediate checkout can be placed on hold.
The NHDB purchases multiple copies of audiobooks and eBook titles. Typically an additional copy will be purchased when there are ten or more people waiting for each copy of the title.
A valid email address is required to place a hold.
You will receive an email when the title becomes available for you.
You can edit your email address at any time by visiting “My Account >> Holds >> Edit Email.”
In the Libby app, the email can be changed by:
Tapping on the small Libby head at the bottom of the screen.
Tapping on the banner notice for “Manage Notifications.”
Note that if you have multiple notifications, you will need to swipe through the numerous notifications.
At the bottom of the screen, tap on the “Change this?” link stating your current email address.
You can opt to automatically checkout a title when it becomes available for you. You must have fewer than three items checked out to receive the hold. This setting can be found at “My Account >> Settings >> Automatic hold checkout.” NOTE: This feature will be replaced in early 2020 with a hold re-notification service. Items will no longer be automatically checked out.
Holds are only held for 48 hours. After that time, the hold is removed.
You can remove a hold or suspend a hold by visiting “My Account >> Holds >> Options >> Remove/Suspend Hold.”
The wish list found in “My Account >> Wish List” is an inactive list. You are not on hold for the title.
Use the wish list to keep track of the books you would like to read in the future.
Titles displaying a red ribbon have been added to your wish list.
Click or tap the gray ribbon to add a title to your wish list. The ribbon will turn red.
Click the red ribbon to remove the hold.
By default, your borrowing history is displayed on your NHDB account. It is possible to remove specific titles from your history or hide your history from being displayed on your account.
It is possible to renew a title if there are no other patrons waiting for the title during the remaining 72 hours of your current lending period. If others are waiting for the title, you will be placed back on the waiting list.
Within “My Account >> Settings,” you will see the option to reduce the visibility of titles based on the maturity level.
Pro Tip: If a patron is only seeing romance novels and not much else, it is likely that the have selected only “Mature adult” titles. Adjust the settings to General adult and Mature adult.
Selected materials are shown in dark gray.
The Libby app makes use of special tags, called smart tags, to automatically label items that you have borrowed and sampled or to allow you to apply tags that remind you when a new magazine issue or next in the series has been released/purchased.
As of June 2023, users who have not turned off their timeline history will notice a new smart tag called "borrowed." The new "Borrowed" smart tag will show all the items that you have borrowed over time (on perhaps multiple cards associated with your account). Read more about smart tags on the OverDrive help page.
Click on the smart tag "Borrowed" and scroll to the end of the list to add all previously borrowed titles to the list.
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the New Hampshire State Library.
