Library e-books coming to Kindle

[Doug Pardee]

Amazon has announced that sometime "later this year", Kindle users (and Kindle app users) will be able to read e-books checked out from the library. At the moment, Kindle is the only major e-reader that is unable to display library e-books.

Details are still emerging, but it appears that Amazon's worked out an arrangement with OverDrive that allows Amazon to deliver the borrowed e-books directly to Kindles (and Kindle apps), without any need for the irksome Adobe Digital Editions software. Or any need for a computer at all, for that matter. If correct, e-library patrons will find this to be far easier to deal with than the borrowing system used by other e-readers.

OverDrive will continue to enforce publisher restrictions. Macmillan and Simon & Schuster don't permit their e-books to be circulated at all, while HarperCollins permits each copy to be circulated no more than 26 times.

[Mira]

Yay!

Thanks for the info, Doug. Something to look forward to. :)