Amazon and Overdrive have been collaborating for the last year on a system that would allow Kindle Books to be borrowed from public libraries. Today Amazon announced that it is rolling out its borrowing service to over 11,000 public libraries in the USA.
If you are in possession of an Amazon Kindle e-Reader, you can finally borrow books from public libraries that do business with Overdrive. You can enjoy all of the features that are available to you when you read books. You can take notes, add highlights, and make annotations. Twitter and Facebook are prevalent on borrowed books as well! Tweet or update your status to a specific passage you are reading or inform your friends you are reading a particular book.
So how does the library lending system work? You will use the library website and you of course need a library card. Once you find a book you want to borrow you can choose “Send to Kindle.” Then a redirection will occur to your Amazon.com account and it will be sent automatically with Whispernet. If you do not have a 3G or wireless connection you can transfer it via USB.
The library lending for Amazon is not exclusively limited to the Kindle. If you have an Android or iOS device with the official Amazon Kindle App, you can also have the books delivered.
“This is a welcome day for Kindle users in libraries everywhere and especially our Kindle users here at The Seattle Public Library,” said Marcellus Turner, city librarian for The Seattle Public Library. “We’re thrilled that Amazon is offering such a new approach to library ebooks that enhances the reader experience.”
[showhide type=’pressrelease’]Kindle the only e-reader to deliver library books wirelessly; read on any Kindle or free Kindle app
SEATTLE—Sept 21, 2011—(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon.com today announced that Kindle and Kindle app customers can now borrow Kindle books from more than 11,000 local libraries in the United States. When a customer borrows a Kindle library book, they’ll have all of the unique features they love about Kindle books, including Whispersync, which automatically synchronizes their margin notes, highlights and bookmarks, real page numbers, Facebook and Twitter integration, and more. For more information about borrowing library books for your Kindle or free Kindle apps, go to www.amazon.com/kindle/publiclibraries. To start checking out Kindle library books, visit your local library’s website.
“Starting today, millions of Kindle customers can borrow Kindle books from their local libraries,” said Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle. “Libraries are a critical part of our communities and we’re excited to be making Kindle books available at more than 11,000 local libraries around the country. 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.”
Customers will use their local library’s website to search for and select a book to borrow. Once they choose a book, customers can choose to “Send to Kindle” and will be redirected to Amazon.com to login to their Amazon.com account and the book will be delivered to the device they select via Wi-Fi, or can be transferred via USB. Customers can check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on any generation Kindle device or free Kindle app for Android, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry or Windows Phone, as well as in their web browser with Kindle Cloud Reader
“This is a welcome day for Kindle users in libraries everywhere and especially our Kindle users here at The Seattle Public Library,” said Marcellus Turner, city librarian for The Seattle Public Library. “We’re thrilled that Amazon is offering such a new approach to library ebooks that enhances the reader experience.”
When borrowing a Kindle book from their local library, customers can take advantage of all of the unique features of Kindle books, including:
– Whispersync technology wirelessly sync your books, notes, highlights, and last page read across Kindle and free Kindle reading apps
– Real Page Numbers let you easily reference passages with page numbers that correspond to actual print editions
– Facebook and Twitter integration makes it easy to share favorite passages with your social networks
– Popular Highlights show you what our community of millions of Kindle readers think are the most interesting passages in your books
– Public Notes allow you to share your notes and see what others are saying about Kindle books
To start checking out Kindle library books, visit your local library’s website.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle, Kindle 3G, Kindle with Special Offers, Kindle 3G with Special Offers and Kindle DX are the revolutionary portable readers that wirelessly download books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and personal documents to a crisp, high-resolution electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle 3G, Kindle 3G with Special Offers and Kindle DX utilize the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so users never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Kindle is the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items sold on Amazon.[/showhide]
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
