Amazon has announced plans to launch Kindle Library Lending later this year, allowing Kindle users to borrow digital books from more than 11,000 US libraries. The feature will be available both on physical Kindle eBook readers and on the company’s mobile apps for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and other mobile and desktop computer platforms.
A number of other eBook readers have been offering access to digital library books for a while, but Amazon’s system has a few things that make it stand out:
- Users will be able to check out Kindle books on one device and continue reading where they left off on another.
- Your annotations, bookmarks, and other data will be saved so that if you check out a book a second time they’re all accessible. You can also access this data if you later purchase the same book from Amazon.
Amazon is working with OverDrive on the Kindle Library Lending feature. OverDrive powers the digital book and audiobook lending systems for most public libraries in the US. Most OverDrive titles are currently available as PDF or EPUB files. Amazon Kindle eBooks use a proprietary format, so it’s not entirely clear at the moment whether all books that are currently available for other platforms such as the Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble NOOK, or Bluefire app will be available for Kindle when the service launches later this year.
Comments are closed.