Sutton and Croydon Online Library Services
Because of Coronovirus, both Croydon and Sutton have closed their libraries, and suspended due dates and overdue fines.
However, there’s good news if you’re stuck at home wanting something to read: both boroughs have vast online catalogues of e-books, audiobooks, newspapers, magazines, comics, education material and even music and film – and it’s all free to access.
I found that if you go to your library’s website to access the online material, it can seem confusing. There are several different apps, it’s not clear what you need, and some are a bit tricky to set up. So I’ve tested them, picked two, and I’ll walk you through the steps to set them up. They are RB Digital and Press Reader.
If your home library is less extensive than this, you might be glad to access your local library online.
I’ve picked these two as I found them easy to use and because between them they cover almost everything. Both will work on your computer or as an app on tablets and phone – Apple, Android, and Kindle Fire. I’ve tested both of them on all of those devices: I personally found that phones worked well for audiobooks, but e-books and magazines worked best on computers and tablets because of the larger screen.
If you only do one, do RBdigital. That has e-books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, plus education material, concerts, and films. Press Reader has daily newspapers from the UK and around the world plus comics and magazines, some not available in RBdigital.
There are some other online library resources beyond those two, I’ve put links to those at the end if you’d like to explore further.
The key to this online world is your library card. Fear not if you’ve never been to your library and don’t have a card, you can register online and I have the links for that, too.
So in this blog, I have three steps
1. Register for your local library
2. Set up RBdigital
3. Set up Press Reader (optional)
Register for your local library
If you have your library card, you’re all set. Skip to Set Up RBdigital.
But don’t worry if you aren’t registered with your library, you can register online now:
Sutton Library sign-up Online
Croydon Library sign-up online
Not in Croydon or Sutton? This system and everything that follows should work for all 18 members of the London Library Consortium, so if you follow either of the links above you can check the drop-down menu to see if your local council is listed.
Set up RBdigital
RBdigital covers all types of online material, except newspapers. It will work on your computer, tablet, or phone. If you have the option, use a tablet as I found it the most practical to set up and to use – I tested it on iPad, Android, and Amazon Fire. Phones worked well for audiobooks.
On your phone or tablet:
Go to the App Store (Apple or Amazon) or Play Store (Android)
Search for RBdigital - the icon is a white “rb” on a red background
Installing the app is free
Once installed, launch RBdigital and tap “register now”
Select your country, then start typing your borough to choose your library
Enter your library card number
Choose your own username and password
Enter your name and email
That’s it, you’re ready to go!
On your computer:
Go to the RBdigital website
Click the REGISTER link at the top of the page then enter your details.
You can choose your own username and password.
Enter your library card number, plus your name and email address.
Select your borough from the Choose Your Library list
That’s it, you’re ready to go!
Whether on your computer or device, you browse the material from the “hamburger” menu in the top left corner, the 3 short horizontal lines.
It works like a normal library: you search or browse the sections, borrow items for a period, then check them back in when you’ve finished. The items you currently have checked out appear under “CHECKED OUT”. Browse and enjoy!
If you install RBdigital on different devices, log in with the same username and password you created, you’ll see the same material you’ve checked out. Though it doesn’t seem to keep your place if you start an e-book or audiobook on one device, then switch to another.
When reading magazines or comics, you can tap or click to zoom in to read individual stories.
If you don’t want Press Reader, you can finish here and start browsing the online library.
Setting up Press Reader (optional)
You may find RBdigital has everything you want, but the one thing it doesn’t have is newspapers. If you’d like to read daily newspapers from the UK or around the world, and even have them delivered automatically each day, then read on to install Press Reader. Press Reader also has magazines and comics, a slightly different selection from RBdigital.
This is a three step process. First, download the app. Second, create a Press Reader account. Third, register your library card to unlock the online content.
Installing Press Reader
There is a Press Reader app for Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android, Kindle Fire, or Blackberry. There are links for all the platforms on the Press Reader Install page.
Or you can search for Press Reader in your device’s app store. The icon is a white P on a green background.
Installing the app is free.
Creating your account
Once you’ve installed the app, you’ll need to create your own Press Reader account.
Click New User? Sign Up Now or Get Started then enter your email address and the password you’d like.
This gets you into the Press Reader system, but won’t let you access the material because you don’t have a subscription, so:
Register your library card
Finally, go into Accounts
Click “Social and Linked Networks” then “Library or Group” (on some devices it’s just “Library”)
Here you can select your library, which is your borough, and enter your library card number
This will activate your library’s subscription to newspapers and magazines from around the world.
Note that you will have to re-activate this subscription every 30 days.
If you install Press Reader on several devices you can use the same email and password to access your account, you don’t need to re-register your library card each time.
You can now browse the catalogue by category, country and language, or search by name. You can create favourites or bookmarks, and you can even choose to have particular titles download automatically when a new edition comes out. Your daily digital newspaper delivery!
When reading, you can tap, click, or stretch to zoom in and out to read individual stories. From the bottom left corner you can also choose Page View or Text View:
• Page View is a digital version of the real publication, complete with all the formatting and layout. This looks great but you might find it difficult to read, especially on a small screen.
• Text View removes all the photos and formatting, so you can read each article like a document. Plain but clear.
Further Reading
If you’ve reached this point, you should be registered with your local library and set yourself up to access e-books, audiobooks, newspapers, magazines, comics, and much else from your local library without leaving home. Happy reading!
If you’d like to explore further, here are some other online library apps. They generally need to be set up in a similar way to RBdigital and Press Reader, and they all need your library card.
ULibrary - audiobooks
Overdrive / Libby - e-books and audiobooks
Borrowbox - e-books and audiobooks
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