Libraries@Home

Here are details of all the services available to you without coming into a library.

If you are already a member all of these services are available to you with your library card.

If you are not a member, you can join online.

Join Solihull libraries

You can use this straightaway without having to collect a library card.

Help getting started

If you haven't used the internet before or lack confidence browsing the web our help getting online and internet safety pages are a good place to start.

Online Library members

As an online member you can:

  • Sign up to borrow eBooks and eAudiobooks, which may be downloaded to your computer, tablet, device or compatible eReader. There are no charges or fines to pay and items automatically expire at the end of the loan period.  
  • Choose from nearly 4000 top-selling eMagazine titles, which you can download and read completely free of charge on your computer or mobile device. Once downloaded the magazines do not delete unless you choose to delete them. 
  • Over 7,000 newspapers and other magazines for the UK and more than 100 other countries are also available free of charge via our eNewspapers subscription. This includes most UK national daily and Sunday papers, as well as many local papers, including the Birmingham Post and Birmingham Mail. If you download the free PressReader app you can select your favourites and opt to have them automatically delivered to your device as soon as they become available. 

Newsbank Global Edition includes the Times, Sunday Times and Sun/Sun on Sunday in full colour as with PressReader and also full text archives of national and local papers for several years, including the Solihull News and Birmingham Mail.

24/7 Library

We subscribe to major online information resources, such as the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Theory Test Pro, UK Press Online and Life in Great Britain. Head to our 24/7 Library page to use them free of charge, at home, at work or in the library, at any time of day or night. Some subscriptions are only accessible from library computers.

Children & Young Peoples Library Services

Children’s Activities

During lockdowns Solihull Libraries produced many great online Rhymetimes and Make and Create sessions which are now available through our YouTube channels.

Make and Create sessions are practical and simple craft activities, with special makes for festivals such as Christmas, Halloween and Diwali. 

Rhymetimes are fun singalongs for babies and toddlers. 

Here are a couple of examples of what you can see free and at anytime:

Make and create

Rhymetime

Events in person

Various events are held at Solihull Libraries for all ages. You can search for events at your local library. To attend some events you may need to be a full library member.

Events are shown on our Events page

Home Library Service

If you are unable to leave your home or:

  • cannot travel to your local library
  • cannot carry items to and from the library
  • care for someone who is unable to leave their home

then the free Home Library Service might be just what you are looking for.

Heritage

If you're interested in family history or local history, then library staff will do their best to help with any queries - just email heritage@solihull.gov.uk.

There's information on our Solihull Life blog about how to get started with your family history research, as well as lots of stories about the area's local history.

All Solihull Libraries have a subscription to the Ancestry, Find My Past, Genealogist and British Newspaper Archive websites which can be used with your library membership in libraries or using the Solihull-Libraries wifi on your own device in libraries.

If you’re looking for something in particular, it’s worth checking the main library catalogue for any published books as well our heritage catalogue for any archive collections or local studies documents. Please email or phone us - 0121 704 6977 - in advance of your visit to book items to view, or to enquire if we can email copies to you.

Follow us on Twitter @SolihullLife.

Converting to full membership

You can change your online membership to a full membership by bringing in some identification along with your online membership number into any Solihull library.

This is free and will give you access to in-library services. More details are on our Join a Library page.

Library service on social media

Each library has a Facebook page and we also have Facebook and Instagram pages for the whole service as well as a Twitter feed, and channels for our Heritage services.

You can follow these and find out the latest news on our services, events and other fun and helpful information on your local services.

All these links are on the Council’s Contact Us via Social Media page

General interest

There are other websites you can get free eBooks: