eBooks & eAudiobooks

Alameda County Library provides free access to electronic books and audiobooks. These electronic books can be accessed from home; the audiobooks can be downloaded for listening at home.

To use eBooks and audiobooks you will need:

• An Alameda County Library card.
• Access to the Internet.
• The appropriate software for the device on which you wish to access the digital book.

To find an ebook or eAudiobook, select the ebook program you would like to search (NetLibrary, Safari, Tumblebooks, etc.)from the list below, log in with your Alameda County Library card, then search for your title. Titles are listed in our catalog but note that you must return to this page, select a program and log in with your library card.

Learning Express Library - Practice taking tests online for the ACT, SAT, GED and other academic exams. Tests also include civil service, military, law enforcement, real estate, other career exams and the U.S. Citizenship Test. You will need to register to create a free account with Learning Express Library so you can access your own exams on repeat visits from your home or in the library. Learning Express now has eBooks on employment and tests. Some ebooks are available in Spanish.

NetLibrary eBooks & eAudioBooks
NetLibrary’s ebook collection includes a wide variety of general interest titles along with Cliffs Notes, Nolo self-help law books, computer books, and career books. These titles are "checked out" to read online (not downloadable).

NetLibrary’s eAudiobook titles have both fiction and nonfiction for adults, teens and children including best-sellers, book club favorites, timeless classics and award- winning literature. Titles may be downloaded with a variety of devices. A list of compatible devices are maintained here. About 50% of the titles are available for iPods. Just note the icons listed in the title’s “Show details” which tells you which devices may or may not be used and the format.


There are no waiting periods for any titles. A name and password of your choice is required for eAudiobooks. Look for the “Create a Free Account” link in the upper right of the NetLibrary homepage.

*Please note:

NetLibrary Media Center downloads are for home use only. Library computers may not be used to download eAudiobooks.

Supported operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 or later,
• Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or later

Media Center is designed and supported for use with the above operating systems. It is not designed or supported for use with other operating systems, earlier Microsoft operating systems, or Apple or Linux-based computers.

Safari Tech Books Online
This is a large collection of books for programming and IT students and professionals from O'Reilly and other technical publishers. It is not necessary to set up an account, although you will need your Alameda County Library card to access these books from home.

LibriVox - Provides free audiobooks from the public domain. LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain, and then releases the audio files back onto the net (podcast and catalog). The objective is to make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet. Librivox is a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.

Tumblebooks Library Edition
The TumbleBook Library is a collection of TumbleBooks (animated, talking picture books) TumblePuzzles, and TumbleQuizzes, as well as TumbleResources for teachers.