cloudLibrary has a free app that you can download onto your Kindle Fire. Once you have the app, you'll be able to download and read/listen to eBooks and eAudiobooks from cloudLibrary's collection on your Kindle Fire. (This will only work on a Kindle Fire. It won't work on any other Kindle devices, including the Kindle Paperwhite.)
The cloudLibrary app isn't available as an app in Amazon's app store, but can be downloaded directly from cloudLibrary's website. Please follow the steps below to download and install the app.
- Open the Settings menu on your Kindle Fire (either from the gear shaped icon on your Kindle Fire's home screen or by swiping down from the top of the screen and choose the settings option from the menu there)
- Choose Security (on some devices you might have to choose Device first)
- Under the yellow Privacy heading, select Apps from Unknown Sources
- Choose Silk Browser (this is the Internet browser for your Kindle Fire)
- Tap the slider button on the right side of the screen next to Allow from this source to turn this option on. It should be a yellow/gold color once it's turned on.
Off
On - A message might pop up asking you to confirm you want to turn it on. If it does, click OK to continue
- Go to your Fire's Home Screen and open your Silk Browser. This app is usually at the top of your Home Screen and the logo looks like this:
- Click the box at the top of the screen that says "Search or type web address" and use the keyboard that pops up to type yourcloudLibrary.com and click the yellow arrow on the right side of the keyboard to go the website
- Once the website has loaded, scroll down until you see the black box with Fire on it, and click the box (Don't use the Find Your Library option at the top of the screen, as this will take you to the website version of cloudLibrary for Sarasota County Libraries instead of the app installation page we need)
- The page that loads has the download link for the app, as well as similar instructions for installing the app on your Kindle Fire. Scroll down until you reach the section under the heading 2 | Download and install cloudLibrary. In this section, you will find two red download buttons.
- If you purchased your Kindle Fire anytime between 2014 and today, choose the first red button that says Download: 4th gen and up Fire
- If you purchased your Kindle Fire in 2013 or earlier, choose the second red button that says Download: 3rd gen Fire
- Choose OK on the pop-up menu
- The app will download, and choose Open once it's finished
- Choose Install in the bottom right corner
- Once it's finished, either tap Done to close the install screen or tap Open to open the app
- An icon with the Cloud Library logo will also appear on your home screen at the bottom of your list of your apps. You can open the app from your home screen anytime by tapping this icon:
Now that the app is installed, you'll be able to borrow and read/listen to eBooks and eAudiobooks from cloudLibrary's collection. You can also download them to your device to read/listen to offline. When you're in the My Books section, if an eBook or eAudiobook you've borrowed isn't downloaded yet, it will have a downward facing arrow on the cover:
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This arrow will go away and you'll just see the item's cover once it's been downloaded to your device.
When you download an eBook to your Kindle Fire through Cloud Library, you'll only be able to read it through the cloudLibrary app; it won't appear in your Amazon Kindle library the way it does when you borrow a book through Libby or OverDrive. Each time you'd like to read the book on your Kindle Fire, you'll need to open the cloudLibrary app.
If you'd like more information on how to use the cloudLibrary app, please visit our tutorial here. The tutorial covers both the website version of cloudLibrary and the app version. It will walk you through setting up your library card in the app (which you should only have to do once), as well as browsing items, searching, borrowing items, placing holds, and returning items in the app.