Books & Reading

Track your reading, log your activities, and earn badges!

View a tutorial about Beanstack, opens a new window

Find biographical information on more than 149,000 modern novelists, poets, playwrights, nonfiction writers, journalists, and scriptwriters.

Subscription purchased by the Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA).

Consists of an online ebook collection for all Minnesotans covering a wide variety of subjects for readers of all ages and featuring content from our state's independent publishers.

Access provided by Minitex with funding from a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant to the Minnesota Department of Education.

Submit your ebook for possible inclusion in the "Indie Minnesota" and/or "Indie Author Project Select" online collections. Submission is quick and easy. Distribution of chosen ebooks is royalty-free, and the license is non-exclusive.

View a tutorial about Indie Author Project, opens a new window

OverDrive is a collection of downloadable e-books, e-audiobooks and e-magazines. Libby is a free, one tap reading app from OverDrive where you can borrow and enjoy digital content from Ramsey County Library.

For details on which devices work with OverDrive / Libby and how to download items, click here, opens a new window.

View a tutorial about Libby, by OverDrive, opens a new window

Borrowing and Renewal Policies:

• Metro area public library cardholders registered with Ramsey County Library may borrow e-books, e-audiobooks and e-magazines through OverDrive / Libby.
• A maximum of 15 e-books or e-audiobooks may be borrowed at a time.
• An unlimited number of e-magazines may be borrowed at a time.
• e-books, e-audiobooks and e-magazines may be borrowed for 7, 14, or 21 days.
• e-books, e-audiobooks and e-magazines are renewable.  A Renew option will appear on your Loans page three days before the item expires as long as there are no requests on that title.
• If a title has been borrowed by another user, a hold for the title may be placed. Hold limit is 15 items. Note: e-magazines are always available to be borrowed at all times and require no holds.
• e-Books and e-audiobooks cannot be downloaded to the Library's publicly used computers.

Subscription purchased by the Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA). Additional content purchased by Ramsey County Library.

As of March 28, 2025, the MN Writes MN Reads brand is retired

Local authors - indie, self-published, aspiring, and mainstream - can create ebooks and share them with readers across the state and potentially across the country using free tools provided by Minnesota libraries.

Catalog of books held in public and academic libraries across Minnesota. To request an item you will need to provide your library card number and PIN.

Subscription purchased by eLibrary Minnesota (ELM).

Designed especially for elementary and middle school students, NoveList K-8 Plus is an online database with fiction and nonfiction titles chosen specifically to support the school curriculum as well as the pleasure reading needs of students.

Subscription purchased by the Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA).

NoveList Plus is a comprehensive online readers' advisory tool. Using NoveList Plus, you can search among hundreds of thousands of popular fiction and readable nonfiction titles, and also retrieve author read-alikes, book lists, book discussion guides, and more.

Tutorial

Subscription purchased by the Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA).

Directory of digitized images, documents, and other materials.

Subscription purchased by eLibrary Minnesota (ELM).

Directory of eBooks in library catalogs.

Subscription purchased by eLibrary Minnesota (ELM).

This app will stop working on June 1. Download our new app, My RCLreads, from your device's app store or using the links below.

Catalog of books and other materials held in libraries worldwide.

Subscription purchased by eLibrary Minnesota (ELM).