How to EASILY Save Time (and Money!) Using This One Library Tool

The Library Extension for your browser turns Amazon or other online book sites into a one-stop shop for checking your library’s catalog.

Do you remember your first purchase from Amazon?  It was Spring 1999, and I came across a $5 off $15 order. I was deep in wedding planning & dreaming of our honeymoon to Walt Disney World. I carefully combed Amazon looking for just the right book. Since the World Began: The First 25 Years. Perfect.

I thought I was pretty hip purchasing it from the internet.  {Never in my life have I been considered hip outside of my own mind!}  Neither of my roommates had purchased online yet, and neither had most of my friends.

Amazon has come a long way since the days it only sold books.  It remains, though, my first stop for book ideas & book reviews.

And the Library Extension has changed the way I search for books & the way I use Amazon.

The “Before” Days

Like many homeschoolers, I debate between what books we should buy & which ones should come from the library.

Spines are an easy choice to buy. Most other books, though, come from one of our libraries, either as an ebook/audiobook or print.

In the “before” days, I’d scan book lists for possibilities. Then came searching on Amazon, GoodReads, or Audible. Then I’d take my list to my library’s website to see what I could find locally or through inter-library loan.

It was a time suck and a clunky way to look for books.

Enter: The Library Extension

Thanks to the Library Extension, I no longer have to visit each of my library’s websites to see what books they own and what books are even available. Not only does it tell you what is available, it can also give you wait times on digital books.

Once you’ve added the extension to your browser, simply visit a supported site, search for the books, and Library Extension shows you the results.

And it doesn’t just work from Amazon & Audible. Find the full list here, but the ones I use it for include:

• abebooks.com
• amazon.com
• audible.com
• barnesandnoble.com
• bookshop.org
• goodreads.com
• penguinrandomhouse.com

How to Add the Library Extension

If you’ve never added an extension to Chrome, it is quite straightforward.  Click on ‘install in Chrome’ from the extension’s webpage (or by searching in the Chrome Web Store).

To set up the extension with your library(ies), you’ll click on the little three books that appear in your browser bar after the installation is complete.  Then you’ll search for your library and tell it if you want it to look for books, ebooks or both.  {For my out-of-state libraries, I search only digital since I’m not traveling to another state every time I need a book!}

When you click on ‘place a hold’ or ‘borrow’, the extension directs you to the item’s page on your library’s website so you can complete the process.

This free extension makes your favorite book site into a one-stop shop for all your libraries.

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