Last year, we gave Ella a Kids Kindle ereader for Christmas and I wrote a whole post about them here.
Since then, the number one question I’ve been asked about the Kids Kindle is “Can you put library books on a Kids Kindle?”
The good news is YES!
It’s not obvious how to do it and it took me a bit of fiddling around to figure out how to do it, but once I knew the steps, I could have library books added to Ella’s kindle in 90 seconds or less.
Here’s how to do it!
How to Add a Library Book to a Kids Kindle
First, log into Overdrive or Libby and choose the ebook you want to check out for your child.
You can filter in the left hand column for only Kindle format ebooks, which makes it much quicker to find the right books.
Once you’ve selected a book, click “Borrow” and when this window pops up after your completed your checkout on the library end, click “Read Now with Kindle.”
It’ll connect you to Amazon (you’ll need to sign in if you’re not currently signed in) and then choose “Get Library book.”
Once you’ve completed the checkout on Amazon’s side, you’ll get a thank you notice. In that thank you notice, choose “Manage Your Content and Devices.”
A full list of all your digital books will pop up and it’s usually sorted by what you’ve most recently checked out, so your new library book should be first. Click the three dots under “actions” next to that book and when this box pops open, click “Manage family library.”
It will show all your libraries, including any FreeTime libraries associated with a Kids Kindle. Click “Add to Library” next to your child’s name that has the Kids Kindle and . . .ta-da! The library book is added to their Kindle. The next time they sync it, it’ll pop right up!
Any other questions about adding library books to a Kids Kindle? I’m happy to help!
You read my mind!!! Just yesterday I was doing this and couldn’t figure it out!! thank you!!
I’ve been trying to figure this out for a week now! Thanks for the instructions. Do I need to do something different if we have the free year of FreeTime? I’ve followed your steps and I can’t get it to pull up the book on the kindle. I can see that they’ve been added to her device on Amazon but it’s not showing up on the kindle.
Go to search and search the title of the book then scroll all the way down and there is a section called “added for you.” Tap on the book to download it.
Wow that is a really annoying process – I never would have found that on my own! Insane how many steps it takes to add a library book for a kid’s kindle. Thank you.
Thank you – this is so helpful! Do you know how to get an audiobook from Libby/Overdrive onto the kids kindle ereader?
You can’t – only Audible audiobooks work on a kindle ereader.
Thank you for this info! I spent forever trying to figure this out and finally came across your website. I am loving the kids kindle for my 9 year old! He now chooses to read for fun…Finally
I can’t get it to work. Is it because my daughter is logged in to her Amazon Kids account? Do we need to exit Amazon Kids to be able to get ebook from Overdrive?
Hmm, did you add it to her FreeTime library?
It worked this time! I don’t know why, but it didn’t say Freetime before, but it does now and it’s showing up in her library. Thanks for you help!
You are a lifesaver! I have been trying to figure out how to do that for my kids and completely missed the ‘Manage Family Library’ option – Thank you X a million!!
Does anyone know if this works in Canada too?
Thank you! And I found this works for Prime Reading and Kindle Unlimited if you have a subscription to any of those and you want to add any books to your kids Kindle from there.
Thanks again!
Thank you so much!!! This was extremely helpful as I was personally missing the last step as many others have stated.
Quick tip: if you’re still having trouble. It wasn’t syncing to my kids Kindle, but I was able to search for & download it after I had completed all these.
Cassie