Kobo Books Canada: Where to Buy? Borrow from Library

Kobo Books Canada

Kobo books Canada are offered in ePub format.

There are two ways to read books on Kobo e-book reader. You can borrow books from public libraries or you can buy books from online stores. You will be able to read at least 600 pages on the Kobo e-reader without charging a Kobo battery. 

Kobo e-book readers can read a lot of books in many different formats while Kindle e-book readers primarily read MOBI format. Kobo e-readers read ePub. MOBI, PDF, HTML and RTF digital files. In addition, they can display a few graphic formats used for comics such as CBZ and CBR.

Kobo Library Books Canada

Kobo Library Books in Canada are available through the OverDrive feature.

Kobo has excellent support for public libraries in Canada, much better than Kindle.

Users in Canada who own Kindle e-reader cannot connect to their local libraries directly from their devices. They need to use their computers to access the public library’s website, log on their account, borrow a book and then send it from the computer to their Kindle device. This process is much easier and faster on Kobo devices.

All Kobo e-book readers (version 4.10 or later) come with an integrated OverDrive feature that allows you to access participating public libraries directly from your Kobo device. From Home screen on your Kobo go to “Settings” and then to “OverDrive” which brings you to the “Find a public library” page. Sign in with your library card and select “Browse”. You will be able to search for a selection of Kobo e-books. When you choose an e-book, tap on it to see more details and to borrow it.

At the end of the lending period, your library book is automatically returned to your public library. You can borrow the same book again immediately after the due date if there are no existing holds. If somebody has it on hold you can be put on the waitlist. Once the e-book is available you will receive a notification by e-mail. Only one person can check out an e-book at a time. Libraries have a limited number of copies of e-books available for lending to members.

Each public library in Canada sets rules for lending e-books such as how many e-books you can borrow at a time and how long you can keep an e-book. Some libraries let you borrow one book at a time.

Buy Kobo Books Canada

The best places to buy Kobo books in Canada are, of course, from Rakuten Kobo, and Indigo online stores. Selection of over six million e-books is available on the Kobo store. That is the same number of e-books that Amazon offers on Kindle store for Kindle devices. There are some differences between these two online stores – some books that are available on the Kobo website may not be available on the Kindle store and vice versa.

You can buy Kobo books from any other Canadian website that offer e-books in ePub format.

Sometimes you cannot find a book you want to read neither in the public library or in the Kobo online store. This is very often a case with popular best-selling books. 

In that case, you can continue to search for it and eventually you will find it available on another online store. However, you may be restricted to purchase it in the case when the publisher of the book does not have the right to sell that book in Canada. This is known as a geo-restriction. The website knows that you are coming from Canada and it keeps you from purchasing a book that has been restricted in Canada. The IP address that you use to search the web can easily be identified geographically. Many online book stores and publishers websites use your IP address, shipping address or credit card number to determine if there is any restriction to sell a book to you. At the same time customers coming from some other countries, for example, the USA can easily purchase the same book if the publisher has the right to sell it in the USA.

Updated: January 10, 2024