From the press release:
QUEENS LIBRARY TO LEND FREE E-READERS
JAMAICA, NY, April 11, 2012 — Beginning on April 12, 2012, Queens Library will be lending 50 e-readers pre-loaded with e-books at the Central Library in Jamaica. It is a pilot program. It is the first time the service has been made available in one of NYC’s public libraries. The e-readers have books on one of five themes: best sellers, romances, mysteries, teens’ or children’s books. There are also 50 works of classic literature loaded onto each reader. Library users may present a Queens Library card and photo ID to check out the devices free for 7 days, with the option to renew twice.
E-readers are compact, lightweight and hold many volumes simultaneously. They are particularly convenient when traveling and for people who find having many books “in their pockets” to be helpful. Because the size of the text and the lighting are adjustable, they are easy to view for a wide range of readers.
As the pilot is evaluated and funding becomes available, e-readers will be introduced to other library locations.
Queens Library is an independent, not-for-profit corporation and is not affiliated with any other library. Queens Library serves a population of 2.3 million in one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the U.S. and has among the highest circulations of any public library system in the world. For more information about programs, services, locations, events and news, visit the Queens Library web site at www.queenslibrary.org or phone 718-990-0700. Queens Library. Enrich your life®
Interesting. I wonder what kind of purchase/license deal they made on those books, as from what I’ve heard, the licence for most e-books forbids the lending of any e-reader they are loaded on, even to a family member I think.
Robin, I would find this hard to believe that you cannot lend a Kindle or other e-reader to someone. Can you cite your source for this? I have multiple Kindles and do lend them to family and friends.
Mary, your kindle is typically linked to your Amazon account. Anybody who has access to the device for reading purposes may also have access for your account for other purposes, such as purchasing.
What happens if your Kindle is de-linked from any Amazon account? Can you still read the books downloaded from Amazon? Can you still side load other books? I’m not sure.
Also, you’d be amazed what license agreements say these days. They are essentially one-sided contracts, written entirely for the benefit of one side, but with forced agreement from the other side. It would not surprise me in the slightest if the fine print stated that the Kindle operating system and software are licensed to the owner of the Kindle only.
Binko, books on de-registered Kindles still work just fine. You can sideload un-DRMed books to that Kindle.
From what I’ve read, it comes down to the terms of sale on each book.
http://blog.librarylaw.com/librarylaw/2011/11/may-a-library-loan-a-loaded-ebook-reader.html
And
“Under the subsection on “Use of Digital Content’, the Kindle EULA says: “Amazon grants you the non-exclusive right to keep a permanent copy of the applicable Digital Content and to view, use, and display such Digital Content an unlimited number of times, solely on the Device or as authorized by Amazon as part of the Service and solely for your personal, non-commercial use.”
Thus if any book on your device forbids lending, you cannot “legally” loan your device. Thus I’m assuming the Library negotiated terms for all the titles. Not impossible (Barnes & Noble are apparently somewhat agreeable to this), but interesting, and I’d like to know more about it.
Mary, I have notified Amazon, and the police will be by shortly to lock you up ;-D
Personally I think the EULA (I met a girl called Eula once, I managed not to snicker), is unenforceable against individuals, but I’ve read it’s been enforced against libraries trying to lend eReaders in the past.
Hmmm. We have a library in the next town over who lends out Kindles, Sonys and Nooks with books on them. So far no one is harassing them.
Robin, I have now fled the EULA police and am hiding out in an undisclosed location.
Possibly they are small enough to fly under the radar. But it may also be that since I read articles about this (probably over a year ago), the publishers and the libraries have worked out a deal. I certainly hope so as that would be great. It seems all I see are stories about publishers boycotting libraries or vice-verca, higher prices for library ebook copies than the print copy etc.
Your case has now been passed to the FBI which is tracking your IP. You should hear the pounding of boots shortly… Resisting arrest will be added to the charges.
Berri Library (in the next town from me, in the Riverland of South Australia) lends out preloaded Kindles, so it must be OK legally, since the librarian is au fait with ebook issues. He says SA is working on a whole-of-state application of ebooks for libraries (and thus probably schools and other state government services). Good news, when it finally happens. The library in my own town seems to be allergic to ebooks.
Robin, I think the FBI wear slip-ons. 😉