We’ve all done it. You’re looking for a book and go to Amazon. You see the price. But before you click the button to purchase, a thought crosses your mind.

I wonder if…

“I wonder if my local library has the book.”

So you open another tab and navigate to the site for that library. You log in and search for the title. Perhaps you are able to check out books from several different libraries including services such as Hoopla. So, you log out of one library and into another trying to find the desired book.

Suppose a simple Chrome extension could make it easier?

Introducing “Library Extension”

Go to the Chrome Web Store and search for “Library Extension.” The direct link is here. Click to add the extension.

You will see the icon in the Chrome toolbar at the upper-right portion of your screen. The icon looks like a stack of books. Click it to begin.

Within the extension, you identify the different libraries you use.

Search for a book on Amazon, and…

When you search for a book on Amazon, the extension will open a window on the right-hand side of your screen. For each library, you see whether or not that library has the book and how many copies. You also see the availability.

Click on a link in that extension and you are taken to that library’s site where you see the search results for that item displayed.

In this case, I’m looking for The Home Edit. The local library, Pell City, has both 1 copy of the book and 1 copy of the ebook, but neither is available. I see, however, that the Jefferson County Library has 3 copies of the audiobook available.

Save time and save money

With this extension, you cut down on the number of steps it takes to research book availability. You save time. And, if the public library can offer up for the read for free, you save money.