If you teach reading in an iPad classroom, having access to free e-books is important, especially if your iPad budget is limited. Luckily, there are many sources of free e-books on the web. Many classics for older readers and titles suitable for younger students are readily available.
One of the best ways to access thousands of free e-books is through the Project Gutenberg website. Just download, read, and enjoy.
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute public-domain books. The project was founded in 1971 and offers more than 40,000 free e-books that can be downloaded or read online. The books are primarily older books, the copyrights of which have expired, and include many of the classics you grew up reading.
Downloading them to your iPad is simple: Go to the Project Gutenberg website and browse the books in the archives or type your search term in the Search field at the top of the page. You can search for a complete title, any part of a title, or an author. (For example, a search for Oscar Wilde lists all the books he wrote.)
You have various formats to choose among for the download, but select ePub to view items in iBooks.
Another website you should check out Baen. It also has a nice selection of free e-books that you can download and read on your iPad. Remember to select the ePub format.
Goodreads, which has an iPad app, is a great way to keep track of your reading lists and preferences and then share them with friends. Keep track of what you have read and want to read by adding books to your shelves.
Check what your friends are reading, and read their book reviews. It’s a great way to discover new books to read. As a bonus, Goodreads has a library of more than 2,000 free public-domain books you can download.
Other sources of free e-books include iTunes, Google books (which requires the Google Play app), Digilibraries, Manybooks, Readprint, Freebooks, and Feedbooks.
