Kindle library lending goes nation-wide no comments
After its brief debut at the King County Library System, Kindle library ebook lending went nation-wide today. Amazon announced this morning that you can now borrow library ebooks from the over 11,000 public and school libraries in the US that are part of OverDrive’s system. This is a big win for OverDrive too and will give the company a big edge over some of the newer players that are preparing to distribute ebooks to library systems if they can’t do Kindle books. Unfortunately Kindle library books are only available in the US at the moment.
Library books for Kindle enjoy the same features as books purchased in the Kindle Store:
- Library books and their notes, highlights and last page read are synced across your Kindle and Kindle apps.
- Social reading features:
- Facebook and Twitter integration allow sharing of passages.
- Popular Highlights show what other Kindle users have highlighted.
- Public Notes allow you to share your notes and see the notes other Kindlers have shared
When you finish checking out a Kindle book at your library you will be redirected to the book’s product information page at the Kindle Store where you will find a ‘Get Library Book’ button. Library ebooks will be delivered to Kindle ereaders and apps via Wi-Fi, or if you don’t have access to a Wi-Fi connection the books can be sideloaded over a USB connection. Amazon has a help page dedicated to borrowing Kindle library books.
I just tried the system (amazing — I found a book that is on my reading list and is not a classic with no queue!) and it works quite well. There is the extra step of having to complete the checkout at the Kindle Store, but that is more than compensated for in my opinion by having the book delivered to the ereader over the Wi-Fi rather than having to sideload it with Adobe DE as you do with other ereaders.
After clicking on the Get Library Book button, you get a thank you page telling you that your book will be sent to your Kindle or app the next time the Wi-Fi is connected. On this page is also a ‘Download Now’ button if you do need to sideload the book. If you want to read the title on more than one device — your Kindle ereader at home and your phone when away, for example — you should find any library ebooks you have checked out in your archive.
Library ebooks can usually be borrowed for up to 21 days at a time with no renewals. If you don’t finish the book in that time you will have to check it out again, which will probably mean getting back in line. Are all of the ebooks already available at the library now also available in Kindle format? OverDrive says that most of them are.
By the way, Amazon’s press release says that the Kindle library books have regular page numbers, but the title I just checked out still has the percentage completed instead so this still depends on the book.
While the addition of the Kindle platform is going to further overburden library systems that are underfunded in the current economic climate, this may well prove to be some sort of tipping point that will see more libraries switching more of their catalogue to digital content. So if you are not a card-carrying member of your local library — become one and get in line for a Kindle book!
Update: OverDrive has put out this how-to video:
