Chances are, you or someone you know will give or receive an eReader, tablet, smart phone or other fancy gadget this holiday season.

The library is here to help fill those tech toys with free and bountiful eBooks and eAudio-books from our website.

Borrowing an eBook is very similar to borrowing an old-fashioned print book except you don't need to leave the comfort of your Christmas-wrap strewn living room. Using your library card, download the book you want onto your device and you can keep it for a specified length of time (usually two or three weeks, depending on the title).

Then when it's due it simply disappears - no late fees. You can download it again if you are not finished.

For more information on using the library's digital books go to www.fvrl.bc.ca/learn/online_ resources.htm#books.

From there, the largest and most popular service is called Overdrive, which is a good place to start. The "My Help" feature (found under "Help") will give you step-by-step instructions for whatever device you are using.

Or call or visit one of our library staff members who can walk you through the process.

Still deciding which device to buy? A current list of compatible devices is also on the Overdrive site.

For some reading ideas, in Overdrive you can go to the Staff Picks section. Here are some suggestions that (at the time of writing) had copies available for download.

The Red House by Mark Haddon (audio). The set-up of Mark Haddon's new novel is simple: Richard, a wealthy doctor, invites his estranged sister Angela and her family to join his for a week at a vacation home in the English countryside.

Richard has just re-married and inherited a willful stepdaughter in the process; Angela has a feckless husband and three children who sometimes seem alien to her.

What brings out the complexity of this seemingly mundane situation is the unique point of view structure that shifts from character to character. A subtle and intricate story from the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Girl Unwrapped by Gabriella Goliger (eBook). A coming-of-age (and coming out) story set in 1960s Montreal and Israel.

Young Toni Goldblatt, eight years old when the story begins, must learn to confront both her own budding desires and the haunting memories of her Holocaust-survivor parents.

Yearning to re-invent herself, she flees to Israel in the wake of the 1967 war, but the Zionist dream doesn't save her; instead, she finds the realities of life in the Middle East more complex than she imagined, and that her quest for normalcy has been thwarted. Great evocative scenes of the 1960s Montreal bar scene and the highly likeable Toni make this a compelling read.

Open Secrets by Alice Munro (eBook). Nowhere is the sense of place so strong as in Alice Munro's uniquely Canadian short stories, centered in Ontario, and populated by such compelling characters (especially the boozy librarian).

These are stories where whole lives are lived out, remarkably in only 30 pages or less, and yet you never feel like anything is missing. Enjoy!

Abbotsford Community Library

33355 Bevan Avenue, phone 604-853-1753

Clearbrook Library

32320 George Ferguson Way, phone 604-859-7814 (ext. 224 adult desk, ext. 229 children's desk).

Mount Lehman Library

5875 Mt. Lehman Road, phone 604-856-4988.

Mission Library

33247 Second Avenue, phone 604-826-6610.

? Anthea Goffe is the deputy library manager in Abbotsford.