Audiobooks and Ebooks
Anyone with a Portsmouth Public Library Card can use Overdrive/Libby and Hoopla to enjoy free audiobooks, ebooks, comics, music, television and more on their personal devices (or borrow a kindle fire from school. More info below.). Libby and Hoopla offer popular content for all ages so they are great for family trips or babysitting too.
Get started with Hoopla or Overdrive/Libby:
- You can use Overdrive/Libby and Hoopla on your chromebook by visiting their websites. Use them on a tablet or phone by downloading the free Libby or Hoopla app on your device. Links to Hoopla apps for various devices are at the bottom of their website homepage.
- Email pmslibrary@sau52.org if you don't know your library card number and we'll look it up so you can get started.
- These videos show how to sign up and browse for Hoopla or Libby, and this slideshow also shows how to sign up for Hoopla.
Come see us anytime in the school library or visit the Portsmouth Public Library's page about Overdrive and Hoopla for more help.
Audiobook Recommendations:
We love audiobooks! Yes, listening definitely counts as reading. Listening to audiobooks is very valuable for improving your vocabulary, developing a love of reading, and it's relaxing and can help boost your mood.
These are some great audiobooks we highly recommend for middle schoolers. Click on any book, then click on it one more time in Goodreads for a summary. You don't need a Goodreads account :) To learn how to get one of these audiobooks visit us in the school library or email pmslibrary@sau52.org.
For family-friendly audiobook recommendations, email pmslibrary@sau52.org
Check out these lists for more ideas:
Here is a list of some audiobooks PMS librarians & teachers recommend. To listen, ask us to help you borrow a Kindle Fire or download a free audiobook to your personal device.
- Booksellers recommend some of their favorite audiobooks.
- The Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production: this annual award is given to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States. Here is a list of current and past winners.
- School Library Journal recommends these audiobooks for kids.
Have you tried listening to podcasts?
Podcasts are radio shows you can listen to on your phone or computer. Podcasts are free and there is something for everyone - you can find fiction and nonfiction podcasts for every age, on every topic!
Kids Listen is a great place to search for podcasts for kids.
Listen Notes is a search engine for podcasts. Find great stuff to listen to all summer on any topic you can imagine, both fiction and nonfiction. You can use the filters to narrow your search to K-12 or Kids & Family.
The school library lends audiobooks and ebooks to students on Kindle FIres.
A student may check out a Kindle Fire from the library just like they would check out a book. The Kindle Fires are loaded with lots of audiobooks and ebooks, and students can request titles for us to add. The Kindle Fires are locked with parental controls so kids can't do much with them besides read and listen to books :)
We use several services to provide the audiobook or ebook a student would like:
- Overdrive is a free service through the NH state library that provides ebooks and audiobooks through their Libby app.
- Hoopla is also a free library service with an app that offers access to many different types of media.
- Audible - PMS Library subscribes to Audible.com to download audiobooks for students on school library Kindles.
- Amazon - PMS Library purchases ebooks through Amazon to download on school library Kindles.