A new Google Search feature is making it easier for users to find digital copies of their favorite books that are available at their local libraries.
Google said on Monday that the online search giant has added a new feature that will now show up in the search results for any book title, listing local public libraries where users can borrow the title in ebook form.
The list of libraries with available ebooks will appear as part of Google’s “Knowledge Graph” cards, the boxed-off sections that appear either above or next to the regular list of search results, which already offered information on searched-for books, such as a description of the book, the author’s name, GoodReads ratings, and options for purchasing an ebook.
Google users will find the list of libraries carrying a specific ebook title under a section titled “Borrow ebook,” which the company displayed in a Tweet on Monday that featured a screenshot of a mobile search for an ebook version of the children’s book Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics.
Calling all U.S. Bookworms! Now you can take a look at what e-books are available to borrow at your local library, right in Search. 📚 pic.twitter.com/jxiripTUMh
— Google (@Google) September 18, 2017
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The new feature, which is available on both mobile and desktop versions of Google Search in the U.S., should save Google users the trouble of searching the digital collections at every public library in their vicinity for a specific ebook title. Clicking on a library’s link in the Google Search results will take users to a page on that library website’s where they can check out the ebook.