Technological advancement has changed a lot of things in recent times. Textbooks have not been left out of this technological revolution. 5 – 10 pound textbooks have been digitized and can now fit inside of the average smartphone as a PDF file.
The lockdown of schools and online learning during the Coronavirus pandemic greatly impacted how people search for PDF textbooks.
Benoite Vatere, the founder of Mamoth Media, says:
“Since the second week of March when most Americans were asked to remain home from work or school, we’ve seen a 200% increase in the number of sessions across our apps. Not only are users opening them more frequently, but the amount of content being consumed has also drastically increased by 30%. It has sustained at this level ever since.”
This article will highlight ten websites to download free PDF textbooks.
Websites to download free PDF textbooks
1, Open Textbook Library
The textbooks on the website focus on college students’ material; it has about 12 subjects, including Education, Business, Engineering, etc. Search for the book you want by the subject.
The Open Textbook Library website contains funded and published books with the license to be used for free; you could also share them or adapt them without repercussions. The exciting thing is, you can also print the books at a low cost.
The website also allows users to edit or makes changes to an open textbook. Making changes to a free book has an integral relevance to the site’s domain name – Open Textbook Library.
2. Library Genesis
Library Genesis is a ‘shadow library.’ The website boasts millions of journal articles and over a hundred thousand books found that are typically only available through costly academic journals.
The site provides textbooks, academic journals, comics, and other forms of content on various topics.
To download a PDF textbook on Library Genesis, all you need to do is enter your search query – either by the author’s name, the subject, or book title in the search box and click on the textbook you want to download.
The site has a wide range of books on different subjects and a simple interface. The site also enables you to read on Kindle, Android, iPad, and other e-reader devices.
3. ScholarWorks
The site is a shared institutional archive: collecting, maintaining, and sharing digital works. The GVSU library maintains the website, and it’s notable for exhibiting GVSU scholars’ work.
The textbooks on the ScholarWorks site are for college students – and the content covers a wide range of topics.
It has a feature that enables you to use various search methods for textbooks. You can search for a book on the site by either typing the title, the author’s name, keywords, citation information, and etcetera.
4. PDF Search engine
PDF Search engine is relatively simple to use, just like Google and Yahoo. The search engine permits you to search for free PDF textbooks and download them to either your smartphone or your computer.
The site has a vast collection of textbooks that dates back to ages and contemporary books. The good thing about this website is, it supports texts in many formats.
If you want to download a PDF textbook on the site, enter your search term in the search box and click on enter to search for the book. A list of relevant books is displayed; you can then click on the PDF textbook you want to download.
5. Textbooksfree
This website specializes in providing high school textbooks for free and makes the interface simple so you can focus on the task at hand. Also, it has a simple interface. The site is a blessing for many high school students, especially during online learning. The site has textbooks on all high school subjects such as Mathematics, English, Arts, sciences, etc.
As a bonus, the Textbooksfree site also provides free course materials for high schools, such as subject videos and lectures. If you’ve been having trouble finding textbooks for yourself or a dependent, then this website is worth visiting.
6. Bookboon
This website is an online ebook publishing company. It specializes in publishing books for Business, Engineering, and IT students. The site aims to help its users succeed both in the academic and professional spheres of their lives.
Professors from top universities across the globe write the textbooks on the Bookboon site. However, their business ebook is not free. Users have a 30day free trial to access the business ebooks on the site, after which they have to pay a sum of $5.99 per month. The good thing is, the interface is simple.
7. Free kids books
The website is a growing library that primarily focuses on pre-primary, primary, and secondary education.
The book categories on Free Kids books include children’s books, textbooks for children and young adults, and literary resources. As the name suggests, the books are available for free for users to download in PDF format for easy reading.
8. OpenStax
OpenStax has the perfect blend of college and high school textbooks, but predominantly college student’s books.
The website is a non-profit educational technology initiative founded at Rice University. It makes various textbooks available on different subjects like Mathematics, Biology, Social Sciences, Humanities, Businesses, etc.
The best part is that the website meets the standards and requirements of the scope and sequence of new college courses; this makes it easy to adapt the textbook to existing systems.
9. FreeComputerBooks
The website focuses on providing free PDF textbooks in science-related fields. The book category most available on this site is related to programming, computer, and mathematics.
If you want to download a PDF book on the FreeComputerBooks site, click on the name of the text you want to download, scroll down a little, then you’ll see a link to download the book.
10. Free-Ebooks.net
This website supports multiple file formats, such as PDF, EPUB, TXT, and KINDLE. However, PDF is the predominantly used/standard format on the site. Make sure you have a PDF reader available.
Before downloading a book, you can take advantage of the site’s preview function so you can make sure it’s the right book for you.
Free-Ebooks.net has a broad category of ebooks, ranging from academic books to fiction, nonfiction, classics, and etcetera. You have to be a registered member to download five free ebooks in a month.
Conclusion
The article carefully selected free PDF textbook websites to cut across the pre-primary, primary, high school, and college education.
The free textbook websites highlighted above will make it easier for students at various levels to download any book of their choice.
Take a look at all the free PDF textbook sites above, and select the one that’s best suitable for you.
