Amazon’s convenience store package drops aren’t the only new thing it’s testing in Seattle. Reports are surfacing that Seattle area libraries are the first to get to try Amazon’s new Overdrive-based Kindle library lending program. Patrons with Kindles can download time-limited-license e-books in Amazon’s AZW format via WiFi or USB. The books can be checked out from one’s own home via Amazon’s website, but require a library card from the library making the lend.
It’s not clear to me that there’s anything particularly special about this program compared to other Overdrive library e-book lending, save that the Kindle and Amazon are involved. Still, it’s putting library e-books into the hands of people who own the most popular e-reader currently on the market, and that could have a pretty big impact down the road once it spreads to more regions.
I live in Seattle and, when I heard about this, I went to our public library website and checked out an ebook quite easily. The advanced search page lets you specify the Kindle format and a title or author. If you’ve got a valid library card, SPL’s servers will pass you off to those at Amazon, which will send you a copy of the ebook that’s good for 21 days as a usual Amazon download. I’m not sure if you can renew after that if no one else has placed a hold.
The negative is that, like the rest of the digital book loaning ecosystem, it’s still in the ‘buggy whip’ era of own to loan. When the library ‘owns’ two copies, only two can be out at a time. And if the library doesn’t own a copy, you can’t check it out.
That makes little sense with digital books. An inventory that’s all the ebooks in Overdrive’s collection with unlimited pay-per-use rental makes more sense, given the nature of digital books. On the other hand, I am delighted with the new service as it is and hope it rolls out to the rest of the country ASAP.
Chirs,
It’s easier than the Adobe DRM method that, most of the time, involves a fairly time-consuming hookup with a computer and certain steps to be taken.
The Kindles will be served by Amazon in the regular way, direct to the Kindle via WiFi — rather than via expensive 3G which is often used for downloading purchased books from Amazon. Amazon pays for 3G access and use of that at libraries will tend to be heavy, with no revenue from books to offset it.
Those with older Kindles with 3G wireless ‘only’ will have to use USB transfers to get the books to their Kindles but there won’t be the Adobe DRM dance to go through.
Also, any annotations you make will be kept with the copy of the borrowed book, staying in your private, password-protected annotations webpage at Amazon (copyable/printable), in case you want to re-borrow the book or even buy it later.
The books will be in Amazon’s mobi/azw format, and location-tracking of notes and highlights will be done unless the customer doesn’t want annotations backup to the server area.
I explain more at http://kindleworld.blogspot.com/2011/09/more-encouraging-news-on-kindle-and.html
Also found today that a special software update was done in the case of at least one Seattle tester.
Any information on the business model between publishers and libraries or is it only about public domain/free titles?