OverDrive is a digital platform providing access to ebooks and audiobooks that can be read on the site or downloaded to a phone or tablet. The Carolina Overdrive has a large collection of fiction and nonfiction titles.
Fiction titles include classic literature, pop fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and romance. Nonfiction titles include biography, memoir, history, and self-improvement among many others.
Carolina Overdrive is available to UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff with their ONYEN and password.
Users can access the platform for ebooks in three ways:
All access points will require that you log in with your UNC ONYEN and password.
Carolina OverDrive provides many ways to identify ebooks. The search bar at the top of the page populates with potential authors and titles as you type. Select an option or run your keyword search.
The "Subjects" tab allows you to browse ebooks by fiction and nonfiction subject areas.
The homepage also features rotating special collections, like new titles, banned books, Tar Heel recommendations, and wellness reads.
In order for users to read ebooks available in OverDrive, they must borrow the book. When viewing a title, click on the box for "Borrow" if the title is available. It will be checked out to your account for 21 days by default. If the title is not currently available for checkout, you may put a "Place a Hold" on the title. OverDrive will notify you via email when the title becomes available for you to checkout.
Navigate to the your bookshelf by clicking the books icon at the top of the page. Under "Loans", you can view titles currently checked out to your account. You can also view titles on hold and past titles checked out.
Users may read ebooks checked out under their account through various methods. If you have an Amazon account and Kindle device/app, you may follow the prompt to "Read now with Kindle" to download the book. Alternatively, there are options to "Read now in browser" or "Download EPUB ebook."
eBooks will be automatically returned at the end of the checkout period. However, you may return an ebook early so that is available for others to checkout by clicking the "Return" button for the title on your loans page.
Navigate to OverDrive platform help page here to review instructions for getting started with OverDrive, how to navigate ebook borrowing, and how to use the OverDrive app. There are also tips for troubleshooting common problems.
