In January 2025, we celebrate the 6th anniversary of the free e-book website "3td e-book library" 3td.lv. During this time, the website is becoming popular among Latvian and foreign Latvian readers, thanks to municipal libraries. In the new year, we invite young people to try 3td.lv. There you can read books in Latvian online for free.
On the 3td.lv website, you can read more than 670 e-books for free. They are in various genres and divided into groups. There is a section "For children and youth" with 80 e-books for the youngest readers. There are also interesting books for young people in other sections, such as "Fantasy and fiction", "Business and career", "Spiritual literature and philosophy" and "Stories. Essays. Literary fairy tales". There are also works by Latvian authors included in school curricula, such as Vizma Belševica's "Bille", Imants Ziedonis's "Visaadas pasakas" and Eduards Veidenbaums' "Dzeja".
Over the past 6 years, the following books have been read most often to children and young people: Jānis Joņevs' "Jelgava 94", Dzintars Tilaks' "Čomiņš" and "Oki doki! Jeb kad mēs augām", Imants Ziedonis' "Visaadas pasakas", Johannes Spiri's "Heidi. Meitene no Alpu kalniem" and Latvian folk tales "Īsas pasakas" arranged by Kristīne Skrīvele. In 2024, the most popular books are Rasa Bugevičute-Pēce's "The Boy Who Saw in the Dark", Tūve Jansone's "Vasaras grāmata", Dzintars Tilaks' "Zlatas ceļš", Giacomo Macariol's "My Brother Catches Dinosaurs" and Otfrids Preisler's "Herbe with the Big Hat". The most read e-book for children and young people on 3td.lv is Jānis Joņevs' "Jelgava 94" from the publishing house "Apgāds Mansards".
One of the most read writers in the 3td library is Dzintars Tilaks. He congratulates 3td.lv on its 6th anniversary and invites young people: "Wherever you are and whatever book format you choose, read and think about what you read! I am glad that my book "The Golden Path" is being read and has found its way to your hearts in this difficult time. Thank you!"
The most popular book in the 3td.lv youth e-book category, "Jelgava 94", was written by the writer Jānis Joņevs. He talks to young people and says: "Why read books? You can learn things in books that others will not tell you. For example, if someone says that young people used to be smarter and better, don't believe it! Read my book and you will see that it wasn't. I read books and I am always amazed at what you can find there."
Agrita Sagalajeva, project manager of the Cultural Information Systems Center, says that this year they want to focus more on young people, because reading is very important. The 3td.lv platform offers services that young people like, such as reading on the phone. 3td content is free, legal and diverse. There are also works included in school programs, which can be read anywhere, even without visiting the library.
The information technology company “Tietoevry Latvia” is developing the 3td.lv platform. Aiga Grēniņa, who represents this company, says: “The 3td.lv platform helps us use the time we spend on our phones, tablets or computers to read. The platform is good for young people because the whole class can read the same e-book, for example, one chosen by the teacher. There is no need to worry about the number of books in libraries or stores. If you fail to read an e-book within 2 weeks, it is automatically returned and there is no penalty.”