Not everyone can have access or resources to obtain printed books all the time, especially during the times of COVID. And though many say online books just don’t have the feel of real life physical books, it still provides a huge forum for book lovers. And its biggest benefit is its accessibility. Whether it is renting books, buying them or reading them for free, these digital libraries serve multiple purposes. Here are the 10 best digital libraries you should check out. They are good in collection as well as price wise.
10 Best Digital Libraries You Should Check Out:
Project Gutenberg
Perhaps the best known digital library, this was a volunteer effort to organize and digitize cultural and literary texts. Boasting over 60000 works of literature including plenty of classics and academic resources, this is a masterful effort. The books are also available in various formats and are completely free of cost as well.
Mintbook
This digital library curates books from various sources for learners, students, teachers and trainers. With a variety of formats such as audiobooks, e-books, pdfs, journals, courses and quizzes and aims at growth, learning and reading. They have so far over a million e-resources specially curated for various curricula.
Open Library
This 2008 venture, funded by California State Library and Kahle-Austin Foundation, gives full and free access to over 20 million literary and academic records. With an easy to use format and impeccable quality of e-books, this one had to be on our list.
National Digital Library of India
The website of this government digital library calls itself a ‘virtual repository of learning resources’ and that is exactly what it is. From academic texts to texts to read at leisure, this digital library has a vast collection to call it home. With several categories such as science, literature and even CBSE, it’s a student’s saviour. Plus, the content is available in a multitude of Indian languages for regional readers.
Directory of Open Access Books
This digital library is home to a host of scholarly open access books which have made a mark in the academia world. A one stop destination for all students, this library provides services that are absolutely free of cost. There are also books in a variety of languages such as German, French and more.
British Council Online Library
With a proliferating collection of academic, leisurely, literary works as well as magazines, journals, research publications and even graphic novels, this library is worth checking out. There are also audiobooks and video based learning tools that you can use here. The British Council founded this wonderful online space.
California Digital Library
Founded by University of California’s then president Richard Atkinson in 1997, this digital archive was created to extend scholarship to all seeking it. The best part about this library is the resolution of its pages, making reading digitally a smooth, hassle free experience. From books to scientific data and journals, manuscripts and artwork, this digital library has it all. T
World Digital Library
This is an international digital library operated by the UNESCO ad US Congress which provides free access to an astounding number of books, cultural documents, maps and the like. With rare books from over 193 countries from between 800 BCE and 2000, it is the place to be for students of cultural studies or history.
Literature Network
As the title suggests, this is a network of classics and other texts that are classified as literary. It has tens of thousands of poems, novels, novellas, short stories, literary articles, novelettes to choose from. For book lovers and literature students, this place is a piece of heaven. Plus, it’s all free
Universal Digital Library
This book library hosts over a million books, for which you can conduct a website search in an easy and format friendly way. This is also called the Million Book Project and was founded by Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science.
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