Library lending coming to the Kindle

[howye]

Sometime later this year the Amazon Kindle will be able to check books out of your local library, assuming your local library is still open and uses Overdrive for lending eBooks. Up till now this has been the greatest weakness from the point of view of being a pure ereader. I love the display, the portability, the variety I can have at my fingertips. But I cannot afford to buy every book I read, my local library has been named as the best in the country and I use it. Now I will be able to use it on my Kindle.

Engadget link with Amazon press release (http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/20/kindle-library-lending-will-let-you-take-books-out-on-your-e-rea/)

[Zsofia]

I am so freaking happy I could just spit. I'm a librarian and I think the Kindle is by far the superior e-reader but people are buying those awful color Nooks because the Kindle didn't support library books! Woot!

[phungi]

have you checked to see if your local library is connected to overdrive.com/ (http://www.overdrive.com/#2)

[ChordedZither]

This news makes me very happy.

Not so much for the short term - the Overdrive selection for our library is still tiny compared to the new paper books they acquire every year.

But, in the long run, I think that it's healthier for both the e-book industry and for Public Libraries if they get used to working together. And that isn't going to happen if more than half of the e-book readers are excluded from the process.
==================
Now, sadly, for the other side of the story, Harper-Collins Publishing has announced its intention to rather severely limit (http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/889452-264/harpercollins_caps_loans_on_ebook.html.csp) the # of times any given "copy" of an e-book can be lent via Overdrive or other lending services. After 26 loans (about a year to a year-and-a-half for popular books), the lending service would have to purchase a new license. Reportedly, other publishers are watching to see how this plays out.
If the publishers can make the service expensive enough

[Chefguy]

have you checked to see if your local library is connected to overdrive.com/ (http://www.overdrive.com/#2)

Yahoo! Portland is connected!

[Library Boy]

Well, the article did not make clear to me if the app would allow the Kindle to use the DRM-protected ePub and PDF files the libraries already have, or if Kindle books would be made available to OverDrive that libraries can then purchase and lend.

The second option is a whole lot less attractive to libraries already invested in the other formats.

[KneadToKnow]

I am so freaking happy I could just spit. I'm a librarian and I think the Kindle is by far the superior e-reader but people are buying those awful color Nooks because the Kindle didn't support library books! Woot!

And I think it's hilarious that Amazon is trying to frame the conversation (as evidenced by the title of this thread) as though libraries are somehow "coming around" to supporting the Kindle, when in fact it seems that the actual thing that's happening is that the Kindle will now support the file formats libraries have been using for some time.

[ChordedZither]

The announcement from Overdrive (http://overdriveblogs.com/library/2011/04/20/kindle-library-lending-and-overdrive-what-it-means-for-libraries-and-schools/) is a bit more explicit and informative. It appears to say that all currently licensed and future licenses for EPub titles will be available for Kindle.
"Your library will not need to purchase any additional units to have Kindle compatibility. This will work for your existing copies and units."

Coupled with Amazon's announcements that the copies on loan will be compatible with their cloud service for bookmarks and personal annotations, there is some speculation that what will happen is that Overdrive will notify Amazon that you have checked out a title, then Amazon will WhisperNet it to your Kindle.

[ChordedZither]

when in fact it seems that the actual thing that's happening is that the Kindle will now support the file formats libraries have been using for some time.

Actually, there's no sign that this will entail a change of book format. It appears that Kindle users will continue to get .azw (a modified Mobi format) files.

But for a non-DRM copy of an e-book, conversion between the Epub and Mobi formats is simple. People who fuss about the need for a common file format are worried about the wrong thing. What is inconsistent between Amazon and Adobe are the DRM models, which are used to encrypt the EPub/Mobi book.

And even if the two sides adopted a common DRM scheme, that would not make books interchangeable between the two stores. The encryption done by the DRM needs a key, and as long as the book stores (Amazon and Barnes & Noble) each insist on tying the key generation to your accounts with them, a book encrypted by one store would not be readable using an e-reader sold by the other store. Now, why an e-reader can't be programmed to work with multiple accounts is another question.

[Steve MB]

And even if the two sides adopted a common DRM scheme, that would not make books interchangeable between the two stores. The encryption done by the DRM needs a key, and as long as the book stores (Amazon and Barnes & Noble) each insist on tying the key generation to your accounts with them, a book encrypted by one store would not be readable using an e-reader sold by the other store. Now, why an e-reader can't be programmed to work with multiple accounts is another question.

There's no technical reason; it's pure marketing. It would be trivial to build what amounts to a low-end tablet with an e-ink display, capable of running Kindle, Nook, etc. apps as required to read any given book.

[Isamu]

"Global" my ass.