On a recent episode of the Professional Book Nerds podcast, author, talk show host and stand-up comedian Guy Branum shared a wonderful story about encyclopedias. In both the interview and his book My Life as a Goddess, Guy discusses how, when he was young, the place you’d find him most often was with his nose in an Encyclopedia Britannica. The connection he formed through these encyclopedias directly resulted in his now lifelong quest for knowledge. Whenever he had a question, he went to the encyclopedia.

Things tend to move a little bit faster these days, as most of us have a supercomputer in our pocket at all times. But thanks to Britannica Digital Learning and the content they have available in OverDrive Marketplace, readers can make sure the information they’re instantly seeing is factually correct. The ebooks you’ll find in this list are both informative and interesting. There are countless titles about little-known aspects from every modern war, guides about any animal you can imagine, approachable scientific content for all ages, deep dives into social issues and much more. Personally, I can’t get enough of their books on space and dogs.

Perfect for both the classroom and after-school programs
These titles make excellent additions for both libraries and schools alike. For schools, this content pairs perfectly with curriculum across history, science, social studies and several other areas of study. They’re great assets for research projects and essays, while also enabling students to use devices in the classroom through our new app, Sora. Libraries can provide older users a sense of nostalgia as they borrow content in a new, yet familiar, format of the Encyclopedia’s they grew up with. Libraries can also use these tools as an extension of their STEM programs and makerspace classes. After school programming can greatly benefit from this content as well.

Neil Gaiman famously said “Google can bring you back 100,000 answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.” This is true, but in the event that people are looking for the correct answer outside of library hours, why not provide them digital content that assures they can still get that right answer? Thanks to Britannica Digital Learning, it’s not just information that’s a tap away, but the right information.