Photo gallery for Penguin Publishing Group Places Limits on Kindle Titles

The Penguin Publishing Group withdrew from the OverDrive program in March, 2012. We are not able to buy any new Penguin titles or additional copies of Penguin titles for our OverDrive Digital Catalog. We still have titles we purchased before they withdrew from the program, but there are some new restrictions on how these titles work for Kindle. All Penguin Kindle titles will list Use On: Kindle devices via USB Only.

This means you are not able to directly sync the title to your account like with our other Kindle titles. Penguin titles can only be checked out from our collection and transferred via your Amazon account if you own a Kindle device and have it registered to your account. When you get the option to Get Library Book, the only option will be Transfer via Computer. The statement on the Amazon site also shows it cannot be downloaded wirelessly.

You’ll then see a screen where you can choose a Kindle device (but not an app).  When you click Continue, the process of downloading the file to your computer begins. At this point, even if you don’t actually download or transfer the file, the book will be listed in your Manage My Kindle library. Some patrons have had success finding the title in their Archived Items through the Kindle app after syncing it. It is in your Manage My Kindle settings that you can also return the title early, and check out another ebook format.

We know that this is a major inconvenience to many of our regular borrowers who do not own Kindles and read their books using Kindle apps on their tablets and smartphones. The only suggestion we have is that you borrow the EPUB copies of Penguin titles using the OverDrive Media Console apps for your mobile devices, even if you continue using the Kindle apps for other ebooks.

How do you know if you are about to check out a Penguin Kindle title? Penguin is listed as the Publisher in the full record, under the Format Info tab:

If you have further questions, please contact Digital Catalog Support at digitalbooks@cwmars.org.