That’s why your neighborhood library is more popular than ever, according to a study by WordsRated. You might even be shocked to find out that more than half of the U.S. population has a library card. Did you know that most libraries have a huge online presence? It’s true. You can find tons of eBooks through your local library. Check out these helpful apps if you need help finding great eBooks to read for free.

Times are changing

RELATED: How to find thousands of free eBooks aside from the library WordsRated explains that you can’t use physical visits and books borrowed as a metric for whether libraries are dying. It says that way of thinking is outdated, as it doesn’t consider “how libraries are evolving to serve their communities digitally.” The study reveals 174 million registered book borrowers in the U.S. Up to 58% of libraries put their collections online. And there are more than 6 million library programs across the country. Here are three apps that you can use to access more books online:

Libby

Libby lets you borrow eBooks, audiobooks and magazines from your local library for free, and all that you need is a library card. Built by Overdrive, over 273,000 titles are in its collection that spans 166 subjects. You can read your favorite books on the free Libby app or send them to your Kindle. There are several audiobooks too, which you can listen to whenever you get a chance. Depending on where you live, you can get a library card directly inside Libby by supplying your phone number. The Libby app is available for iOS and Android.

Hoopla

The great thing about hoopla, aside from the ability to borrow eBooks, is that you can also access movies, music and TV shows. You need to link your library card to the service to have free access to your nearest public library. It has over 120,000 titles available, spanning genres like poetry, historical fiction, suspense, sci-fi and fantasy. The free hoopla Digital app is available for iOS and Android.

Kindle

But if you link your library card to the Kindle, you can read your local library’s collection for free. You can get the free Kindle app for iOS and Android.

Keep reading

RELATED: Download or listen to the library’s 78 RPM record collection for free