One of the unexpected benefits of running an online learning platform for live literature classes, is that we get to learn about all of the helpful resources that scholars use. Below, we've compiled a short list of resources for literature classes, that provide free or library-based access to novels, poetry, short stories, classical texts, audiobooks, and more.

Project Gutenberg is one of the oldest and largest collections of free ebooks on the internet. Its catalog includes tens of thousands of works whose copyrights have expired, ranging from canonical novels and poetry to philosophy, history, and lesser-known works.

Standard Ebooks takes public-domain books and produces carefully edited, professionally formatted digital editions. For readers who want attractive and reliable editions of classic works for an e-reader, it is one of the best free resources available.

Libby makes it easy to support your public library. It is an app that allows users of participating libraries to borrow ebooks, audiobooks, and digital magazines using their library cards. Its catalog depends on the holdings of your local library, but it can provide free access to everything from new releases and bestsellers to literary classics and academic nonfiction. 

If Libby doesn't have what you're looking for, you should check Hoopla - another digital borrowing service offered through participating public libraries. Depending on your library, a library card can provide free access to ebooks, audiobooks, comics, music, movies, and television. 

HathiTrust is a massive digital library, used by academic researchers around the world. It was created through partnerships among academic and research institutions. Its collection contains millions of digitized books, journals, and other materials, including a particularly rich selection of older and out-of-print work. HathiTrust is especially valuable for researchers looking for historical editions and obscure publications.

The Poetry Foundation maintains one of the internet's most extensive collections of poetry and poetry-related material. Its website features thousands of poems by writers ranging from major historical figures to contemporary poets, as well as biographies, essays, articles, podcasts, and thematic collections. Its searchable archive makes it particularly useful for exploring an individual poet, finding poems on a particular subject, or simply discovering new poetry.

The Perseus Digital Library, based at Tufts University, is an indispensable resource for the study of the ancient Mediterranean world. It offers searchable editions and translations of Greek and Latin texts, including works by Homer, Plato, Sophocles, Herodotus, Cicero, Virgil, and many others. Many texts are connected to dictionaries, commentaries, and grammatical tools, making Perseus particularly useful for students and readers interested in classical literature, history, and philosophy.

The Chinese Text Project is one of the largest open-access digital libraries for premodern Chinese texts. Its collection includes works of philosophy, history, literature, and religion, with especially extensive coverage of early Chinese philosophical sources such as the Analects, Mengzi, Xunzi, Zhuangzi, and court histories. Many works include English translations alongside the original Chinese.

LibriVox offers free audiobooks of works in the public domain, recorded by volunteers from around the world. Its catalog includes thousands of novels, poems, plays, essays, and historical works, often with multiple recordings of particularly famous books. The quality and style of narration vary from recording to recording, but the sheer size of the collection makes LibriVox an great resource for readers who prefer to listen to literature.

American Literature provides free access to a large collection of novels, short stories, poetry, and essays, with particularly strong holdings in American classics. Readers can find authors such as Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Kate Chopin, Jack London, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and O. Henry. 

The Short Story Project is devoted to short fiction from around the world. It presents stories by writers from many countries and literary traditions, often accompanied by commentary and contextual material. It's a great place to discover new authors, and move beyond your familiar canon.

Are there any resources that should be added to this list? We're always looking for useful resources to share with our teachers and students. If you'd like to recommend one, write us here.