Looking for a great read? Through the UCI OverDrive website and the broader UCI Libraries collection, UCI students, faculty, and staff have access to more than 2.5 million ebooks.

With a wide selection of subjects and genres, from humor, fantasy, and romance to classic literature, UCI’s OverDrive collection includes 1,850 popular and recently published titles that can be browsed by their individual subjects or by collections and checked out with the click of a button. OverDrive collections, which showcase a variety of books related to a similar topic, include most popular, young adult fiction, books related to understanding and combating racism, and more.

Ways to Access OverDrive

To access the vast OverDrive ebook collection, UCI affiliates can download the Libby app directly to their tablet or smartphone. When the app asks “Do you have a library card?” click “yes” and then click “search for library” and type “University of California, Irvine” into the green search engine. Once UCI is selected, the app will prompt you to enter your UCInetID.

If you prefer reading on a larger screen, OverDrive can also be accessed from any laptop or desktop computer. Simply visit the UCI OverDrive website, sign in with your UCInetID, and begin scrolling through the books. When you find something that you like, select it, click on the yellow “borrow” button, decide whether to borrow the book for 7 or 14 days, and click “borrow” again.

When using a laptop or desktop, ebooks can be read directly in a web browser, checked out via Kindle, or downloaded to your device via Adobe Digital Editions. Visit the UCI Libraries OverDrive Guide for additional details and instructions.

After the loan period, checked out ebooks will be automatically returned, although there is an option to renew before the loan period expires (see the OverDrive webpage for renewal instructions). Each UCI account holder can borrow up to five books at one time as well as place holds on an additional five books.

Additional Ebooks and Resources

Additional ebooks are also available in the full UCI Libraries collection. Visit the UCI Libraries eBook Collections Research Guide to learn about the 2.5 million total ebooks available in 17 additional ebook categories, with topics ranging from science and technology to art and much more. Simply ensure that you’re connected through a UCI campus internet connection or logged into the UCI VPN to access these digital resources. (See the UCI Libraries Connect from Off-Campus webpage for ways to connect.)

If there’s an ebook you’re interested in and can’t find in the collection, feel free to make a purchasing recommendation. Simply fill out the online form, and the Libraries Collection Strategies Department will review the request and decide whether to make the ebook a part of UCI Libraries’ digital book collection.

Similarly, if there are nonacademic books that pique your interest, feel free to email suggestions to Head of Collection Strategies Becky Imamoto at rimamoto@uci.edu. The recommended titles could become new additions to UCI’s OverDrive collection.