LOS ANGELES – E-media makes up about 47 percent of available materials at the LA Public Library. That is where Libby comes in.

"Libby is an app that you use to read and listen to eBooks and audiobooks, read magazines and watch videos," said Peggy Murphy, who manages the library's e-media collection.

The app was developed by Overdrive, the largest digital platform for libraries nationwide. It’s available for free on Apple, Android, and Windows devices. Murphy says the demand for e-media continues to grow.

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"2005, I think we had e-audiobooks from overdrive and I think our circulation per year was somewhere around 30,000...Last year, we circulated more than 5 million e-books and audiobooks through Overdrive all by itself, [more than] 7 million through all of our e-media," Murphy said.

Once users download the app on a smartphone or tablet, there are hundreds of thousands of titles right at their fingertips and several filters to simplify the search. With a few taps of the touchscreen, you can borrow and then read or listen to a book all within the same app.

"The same with audiobooks, the same with magazines, anything that they have, are available in a sort of one-stop shopping experience," Murphy said.

The LAPL has 11 providers of e-media, but Libby is the largest.  Users can check out materials for up to 21 days and borrow as many as 30 titles at once. Murphy says the app makes it easy to switch between a phone and tablet without losing your place.

"It’s going to start on my tablet, exactly where I left off on my phone. That means I never have to worry about bookmarks and ‘What was the last thing I did or what was the last page I read?’  Libby remembers that for me," Murphy said.

Since the beginning of the year, some of Libby’s most popular downloads include Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, and Educated: a memoir by Tara Westover. 

“There is a Spanish library also and then you can scroll up and get what’s new, what’s popular, what’s available," Murphy pointed out.

So, whether you want to read a book, listen to one, or flip through a magazine, electronic options, like Libby, speak volumes about how libraries are evolving in this digital age.

The Libby app also allows users to stream via Bluetooth with Amazon Echo and Google Home, but with the Google Home, you can also talk to Libby and even check out an e-book with your voice.

If you live L.A., but don’t have a library card, you can apply for an e-card online and get access right way to the digital collection.  It won’t allow you to check out physical books, but if you have a physical library card, you can checkout both.