Reading Resources
You Read It Here curates content available on other platforms. Readers are encouraged to visit these platforms to search for materials of interest to them. The most important resources are not listed “in order.” I shuffle the listing, often leading with new resources. Your local library and Project Gutenberg will always be your top resources.
Libby
What is Libby? Libby is an App that enables library users to check out eBooks and audiobooks using their eBook apps.
To get started with Libby, click HERE and follow the directions. You must have a local library card. When you use Libby, you can get the same eBooks, audio books, and many other electronic books for free that you pay for on Kindle, Nook, and Audible. Tired of waiting for a paper book at your local library? You can usually get it much faster by requesting an eBook!
Standard E Books
This is a new resource on YRIH, so I am leading with it this month. StandardEBooks is a not-for-profit organization that makes high quality, open-source books available to the U.S. public. They are free of U.S. copyright restrictions. StandardEBooks strives to be different by seeking high quality design and the quality of typography that you would find in a printed book. The quality of presentation is the defining difference in this site and many other free eBook sites. Many of the books here are impressive, especially if you have a reader, like a Kindle or a Nook. Judge for yourselves. Also see what the site says about what makes it different. Browse its library.
Project Gutenberg
YouReadItHere relies heavily on the 60,000 public domain books on Project Gutenberg which may be used freely in the United States because they are no longer protected by U.S. copyright laws. Typically, in the United States books and other literary works pass into the public domain 100 years after their initial publication. The literary works curated by Project Gutenberg are available for reading online or are available for download to Kindle or other platforms. The Project Gutenberg used here is based in the United States. There are also Project Gutenberg sites elsewhere which adhere to the public domain laws in those countries. Project Gutenberg Australia is small (5000 books) but may include books earlier than the United States. Of course, you should be there to use it. There is also Project Gutenberg UK, which seems to be a subset of the main Project Gutenberg.
James River Writers
Writers are readers’ most important constituency and writers support each other through organizations such as James River Writers. This central Virginia organization supports writers at all skill levels with programs directed at the craft and business of writing. If you’re serious about writing, the first thing to do is write. The second thing to do is join James River Writers. The organization runs programs throughout the year, with its annual writers’ conference being the highlight. One does not have to be a member to participate in events, though members get substantial discounts.
JSTOR
School is in and JSTOR is part of the lifeblood of higher education! JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. Open and free content on JSTOR is available HERE. While JSTOR access for individuals is available on a subscription basis, most academic libraries have agreements with local libraries that enable public library card holders to use academic libraries and their resources, at least on site.
The National Academies Press
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine provides approximately 8,500 reports and other materials that can be downloaded and read for free. You may download National Academies Press (NAP) materials in PDF form simply by Establishing a National Academies Press account with your email address.
While NAP materials are copyrighted, they are available for your private use.
Page by Page Books is a website that offers HTML versions of books available for download. The site offers the opportunity to keep track of where you are within a book and return to that point later.
Hoopla Digital
Instantly borrow eBooks, audio books, digital movies, music, comics and more, 24/7 with your library card.
Google Books
Google Books claims to be the world’s most comprehensive index of full-text books. When you go to the link above, you type in the title of a book that you’re searching for. Not all Google books are in the public domain and many are not free. You must select “free” from the pull-down menu for free books. The Google book selections included on YRIH are in the public domain and are free to readers. If you select a book that is in the public domain and enter it in Google Books, some will be free and others might not be.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a search engine for scholarly literature. Scholarly literature generally consists of literature that has been “peer reviewed”, that is articles and books that have been reviewed and approved by other experts in the field. Information from such sources is generally accurate. Most often, searches on Google Scholar will yield results whereby one can read an “abstract” or summary of the work. Access to the entire article or book will usually require purchase.
LibriVox: Free Public Domain Audio Books
LibriVox is a website that features public domain works that are free to the public in the U.S.A. The extensive catalog is available for listening on computers, I Pods and other mobile devices. Over 18,000 works are available, most in English. Approximately 100 works are added per month at https://librivox.org. LibriVox is affiliated with Project Gutenberg and the Internet Archive, which hosts its offerings. Because the offerings are in the public domain, few contemporary offerings are hosted, the exception being public documents. Classics are readily available, however. For example, see Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
National Library Service (NLS)
The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled is a great source for audio books. It serves people who are blind and visually impaired, deafblind, people with disabilities, educators, people with physical disabilities, family friends and caregivers, parents and guardians and others. Veterans with disabilities receive special preference. Check the website to see if you qualify for services. As part of the Library of Congress, the offerings of the NLS are extensive.
LOCATE A LIBRARY NEAR YOU
You can use WorldCat to locate a library near you. Simply enter your zip code and see what libraries are near you! In addition to local public libraries, you can also access reading materials at school, college, and even hospital libraries!
Henrico County Public Library
Of course, not everyone reading You Read It Here can visit the Henrico County Public Library, but it’s my local library and I wanted to support it. Local libraries have a wide assortment of books and other resources that you can check out and enjoy at the library. You can also “check out” electronic resources there. In addition to your local library, you can usually get cards in neighboring localities. For example, I have also have library cards in the Richmond Public Library and Chesterfield County Public Library. If you’re not in a hurry, you can put a “hold” on books you want and the library will notify you when your book is in!
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is a robust government site featuring extensive book collections, podcasts, news, events, exhibitions, blogs and other resources. Visit the site at https://www.loc.gov.
The Library of Congress Catalog contains 19 million catalog records for books, serials, maps, manuscripts, electronic resources and other materials in the Library of Congress collections.
The digital collections of the Library of Congress are robust and are available online.
There are major restrictions to the Library of Congress collections during COVID.
Open Library
Open Library is a site with over 3 million accessible books. These include current books as well as books in the public domain. The site is very intuitive. Simply visit https://openlibrary.org and insert the name of the book that you are interested in at the home page. On my first try I inserted “The Grapes of Wrath” and within minutes I was reading the book and had “checked it out” for two weeks. However, Hemingway’s “The Old Man and The Sea” is not in the Open Library. Neither are in the public domain in the United States, though they are in Canada.
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a resource that includes the digitized content of over 25 million books and other text files, such as magazines and reports. Also included are 1.3 million eBooks that can be borrowed for free (you must register for an account at archive.org/details/texts). The online viewer is very user friendly, once you are acclimated to the options available. For a tutorial on the Internet Archive, click HERE. The Internet Archive operates the Wayback Machine.
Released on Project Gutenberg Today !
Pretty much everyday Project Gutenberg releases new books that have come into the public domain.
Click here for books sorted by release date, most recently first!
By clicking on the link above, you will be directed to Project Gutenberg’s listing of all books, sorted by release date, with most recent releases first. Most likely there will be releases for today’s date!
Hathi Trust Digital Library
The Hathi Trust is a digital library collaborative of academic and research libraries that offers reading access to a cross section of scholarly and research items that are accessible under U.S. copyright law. The HathiTrust has six principal programs: the HathiTrust Digital Library, the Emergency Temporary Access Service, the HathiTrust Research Center, the Shared Print Program, the U.S. Federal Documents Program, and the Copyright Review Program.
Faded Page. com
Faded Page. com is a relatively new site for works in the public domain. The books on this site are few (about 8,000 as of 2022) and it focuses on Canadian authors and publications. However, the available books are well proof-read and easy to download. The homepage of Faded Page is a treasure. Its scroll features fresh works that I would not have guessed are in the public domain, such as From Russia with Love, by Ian Fleming. Well worth visiting! Books on Faded Page are intended for use in Canada, so we recommend that YRIH users read them there.
American Literature Dot Com
Read American Literature for free at https://americanliterature.com .
The website https://americanliterature.com features novels, short stories, etc.
Goodreads Free Shelves
Goodreads has eBooks that are available to read for free. However, you must register for an account and sign in either through Facebook, Amazon, Apple, or an email account. You can also preview books. Speaking of Amazon, one of the sign-in you can use for Goodreads, if you are an Amazon Prime subscriber, you can read free books each month through Amazon Prime Reads. Go to amazon.com/firstreads .
The Online Books Page
Visit The Online Books Page of the University of Pennsylvania Libraries for free.
The University of Pennsylvania Online Books Page features over 3 million documents that are available for free online.
These listings include more that 2 million online books, including over 50,000 in Penn’s curated collection, which you likely won’t find elsewhere.
Pulitzer Prize Website
The Pulitzer Prize website contains links to prize-winning books that are in the public domain.
For example, to access a copy of the 1922 winner, go to the site home page and then click on Prize Winners. Scroll down to 1920’s and then click on 1922. You see that “Alice Adams” by Booth Tarkenton was the prize winner. You are invited to read the book on the Internet Archive. You can also download the 1922 winner for history, The Founding of New England, by James Truslow Adams on the Internet Archive, and the winner for biography “A Daughter of the Middle Border,” by Hamlin Garland, the sequel to Garland’s acclaimed autobiography, “A Son of the Middle Border.”
The first Pulitzer Prize for fiction was awarded in 1917 to Ernest Poole for “His Family.” Read “His Family” for free.
Sparcopen
“SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) works to enable the open sharing of research outputs and educational materials in order to democratize access to knowledge, accelerate discovery, and increase the return on our investment in research and education.” SPARC focuses principally on access to research articles and supporting data.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy boasts a plethora of free online classes. With an IPad or IPhone, you can even teach a child how to read!
Khan Academy also has high school and college courses. Khan Academy can help you apply to the college of your choice.
Kanopy
Okay, so Kanopy is a video (aka movie streaming service). So what is it doing on a site for readers? The answer is this. I got access to it at the Richmond Public Library, that’s why. To sign up for the free Kanopy, streaming service, you must have a public library card. To sign up, follow the directions HERE. You’ll be required to enter your library card number and PIN number. Then you can stream movies, documentaries, etc. on the device of your choice. Enjoy! (P.S. If you’re a student or professor at a college or university, you can also sign up for Kanopy.)
“How to Raise a Reader” by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo. Available for purchase at bookstores and online. Two New York Times editors have written a practical book for parents looking to raise a passionate, lifelong reader. Includes recommendations for almost 600 books from first reads for babies to young adult titles. See this review from the Los Angeles Times. While this book is not in the public domain, remember that it can be accessed for free in your public library!
READING RESOURCES
You Read It Here posts reading resources that can expand the reach of readers. For the most part, reading resources will be free resources that can be accessed without cost. Remember, even books and resources that are not yet in the public domain can almost always be access for free in your local public library or through an inter-library loan program.
