Kindle Ebooks Coming to 11,000 U.S. Libraries

Posted on September 22, 2011

Amazon announced today that Kindle books are coming to more than 11,000 U.S. libraries. The digital book distribution company OverDrive will handle the loans, as it does for most libraries.

To check out a book for Kindle, patrons must be a member of their local library. With the new service, the patron goes to the library's website, picks a book, then clicks the option to Send to Kindle. The book will appear on the user's Kindle the next time he logs in. The new service allows patrons to make notes in the margin, and to purchase the book later if they wish.

Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle said in a statement: "We're even doing a little extra here - normally, making margin notes in library books is a big no-no. But we're fixing this by extending our Whispersync technology to library books, so your notes, highlights and bookmarks are always backed up and available the next time you check out the book or if you decide to buy the book."

Not all publishers make their ebooks available to libraries. HarperCollins only allows a new titles licensed from library ebook vendors to circulate only 26 times before the license expires. Macmillan and Simon & Schuster do not allow ebooks to be borrowed from libraries, according to The New York Times.