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Libraries lending out Kindle

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This is a list of libraries that are lending out Kindles and setting a great precedent. There’s also a discussion of Amazon’s stance on Libraries lending Kindles at the end.

Libraries lending out Kindles

Every once in a while an article will release about a library that is loaning out Kindles. The perception is that this is rare. Thought it would be fun to list out every library using a Kindle and see whether there’s a trend developing.

All these libraries, and the people in charge, deserve kudos for pushing the boundaries. This is based on just 1-2 hrs research so its just the tip of the iceberg -

  1. North Carolina State University Library has 18 Kindles, 12 Kindle 2s, 2 Sony Readers, and blogs regularly about them. They were one of the trailblazers.
  2. Mary White, Director of Howe Library in Hanover, NH - The Kindle Library Loaning Page. Lending out Kindles since Jan 14th, 2009.
  3. The CRISS Library at the University of Nebraska Omaha has 9 Kindles for lending. Thanks to Julie for the update.
  4. University of Alabama are lending out 12 kindles each in Gorgas, Bruno, and Rodgers Libraries.
  5. Sparta Public Library in Sparta, NJ have 2 Kindles for lending.  
  6. LaCrosse Public Library lends out 1 Kindle. 
  7. Rancho Mirage Public Library lends out Kindles, although its unclear whether its internally or patrons can take them home.
  8. Texas A&M University Libraries have 18 Kindles (add your name to the waiting list here) -

    University Libraries staff at Texas A&M have been lending 18 of the compact devices for four months.

  9. Sawyer Library at Suffolk University has acquired 4 Kindle 2s, and lends them out for up to 28 days at a time (wow!).  
  10. River Forest Public Library in River Forest, Illinois has a Kindle lending program (5 Kindles). Thanks to Mary for the update.
  11. The Gardner-Harvey Library of Miami University Middletown lends out Kindles.
  12. The Hawthorne-Longfellow Library at Bowdoin University has started lending out 4 Kindles and 1 Sony.
  13. Frank L. Weyenberg Library of Mequon lends out 3 Kindles.
  14. Palm Beach Community College lend out a Kindle and even have a blog for it.
  15. Madison High School Library received a Kindle 2 via a grant and lends it out.
  16. Jackson Library at Stanford has a kindle you can test drive if you are at Stanford.
  17. An article in a local newspaper (which is now untraceable) that had a librarian talking about his library as the 2nd library in that particular state to lend out Kindles.  
  18. From the comments in Rochelle’s blog there seem to be 3 additional libraries lending out Kindles and seeing lots of demand (there might be overlap with the list above).  

Does your library lend out a kindle? Do leave a comment so we can add your library to the list.  

There is also a Facebook Group of organizations and libraries lending Kindles. Half or so of the libraries found were via this group.

As far as Sony -

  1. Broward County Library is lending out 13 Sony Readers.
  2. Joe Wikert had blogged about Sony giving Penn State Libraries 100 Sony Readers. Wow!

Also, BYU University suspended their Kindle lending program today -

The Lee Library announced the pilot program to faculty members on June 5, but a story in the Library Journal last week put the program in the spotlight.

“Hotdog, someone has started a much needed plan to get ebooks part of the ILL program,” Sue Polanka, head of reference at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, wrote in her blog, “No Shelf Required.” But she warned, “Verbal permission was given from Amazon, nothing in writing. Highly recommended to speak with Amazon before you delve into loaning out Kindles.”

Gerrit Van Dyk of BYU Library also talks about it at his blog, Shaping Libraries. They were only lending it out to faculty. They had verbal confirmation of sorts. However, they didn’t want to proceed until they had 100% approval. So they stopped it.

It would be a rather boring world if everyone waited for permission, let alone written permission, before doing things.

Makes the initiative the libraries on the list are taking even cooler.

Amazon’s official stance on Libraries lending out Kindles

Amazon’s stance as far as lending out Kindles seems to be -

You can lend Kindles. However, turn off the account so library patrons can’t download additional titles.

They do not give this in writing, however, and its scared off some libraries like the BYU one above.

This is a supposed snippet from an Amazon email (courtesy Rochelle’s blog) -

Greetings from Amazon.com

Thank you for contacting Amazon.com Kindle. We appreciate your interest in using the Amazon Kindle in your Library.

We have reviewed through our Terms and Conditions regarding this matter and the Amazon Kindle. You will be able to purchase Kindles for your library to use for checking out to patrons, as long as you are not reselling the digital content.

One thing we recommend however is that once you have transfered your content that you unregisterthe device through the settings menu on the Kindle. This is because once the device is registered you may make purchases to the default card on the account with out having to log in, and thus preventing a patron from making an accidental purchase on your account.

Should you lend out Kindles at Your Library?

If you are considering lending out Kindles, you can reach Amazon at 1-866-321-8851 and ask for yourself.

  1. As the list above should make obvious, a LOT of Libraries are lending out Kindles.
  2. Main stream media and even the blogs that discuss this are not doing their research and claiming that just a few libraries are lending Kindles.
  3. It took me an hour or so of searching to find 14+ libraries lending kindles. There are probably dozens more, perhaps even hundreds of libraries, lending out Kindles. People have added 2 more libraries to the list in just the first 4-5 days.
  4. My opinion is that you should go ahead and lend out Kindles.
  5. Its great for users and Amazon has bigger things to worry about (Apple, Google, Publishers) than libraries giving it free publicity and reinforcing its brand.

Amazon really cannot come out and say Yes and give it to you in writing because publishers (the same publishers who attacked the text to speech feature) will sue them or do something similarly stupid.


Posted in evolution

Do eBooks spell the end of bookstores and libraries?

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A Librarian down in Australia writes about eBooks and Libraries and while he thinks Libraries are at the forefront of the eBook revolution it’s worth taking a non-librarian view of two questions he asks -

Do you think it means the end of bookshops and libraries as we know them?

Will book people have to turn into e-book people to meet the brave new world?

Let’s start with the second question.

Price separates eBooks from Books

At the moment Publishers are trying to get eBooks to subsidize the costs and inefficiencies of physical books.

Let’s put aside people’s emotional preference for paper books (just till the next section) and compare physical and electronic books on price -

  1. eBooks don’t have printing, ink, and shipping costs (to be precise they’re much, much lower). Approximately 20% of the cost of paper books is eliminated.  
  2. eBooks can be tracked better and risks can be reduced and numbers to print can be optimized. You can literally reduce risk and increase rewards.
  3. eBooks kill sharing and the used books market – allowing eBook Publishers to price eBooks even lower.   

No matter how you look at it eBooks beat paper books on price.

If you have a book in two forms the only reason to choose the more expensive form is if it has some additional intrinsic value.

How much will people pay for their emotional attachment to physical books?

You have some actual benefits – sharing, reselling, decorating, signalling, and so forth. However, the first of those two benefits are factored into lower eBook prices and the latter two require just some physical book purchases.

The biggest reason people prefer physical books is that they are in love with paper and ink.

What premium are people willing to pay for their love of paper books?

Well, not the high premium they would have to pay to sustain physical books as the main form of books.

My argument is that when eBooks are done right they so much cheaper than physical books (40-50% cheaper) that if they were reasonably priced they’d turn hardcovers into high-end items.

  1. The first clue is that Publishers are desperately trying to keep the price difference between paper books and eBooks low – all via artificial means.
  2. The second clue is the strong reaction to eBooks and eReaders and the attempts to kill both off – If paper books really are so much better than eBooks why would anyone care?

eBooks are much cheaper than paper books and if the real price difference was reflected in list prices people would not be willing to pay the premium for paper books. They’d still buy paper books – However, paper book sales would be less than 25% of total book sales.

Will eBooks spell the end of Bookstores?

Even without eBooks the Internet and Internet stores were killing physical book stores. Borders is about to go bankrupt and Barnes & Noble is struggling.

Physical bookstores are doomed. Let’s not blame the eBook for something the Internet has wrought.

All eBooks will do is finish the job.

People might like bookstores but they like low prices and convenience more

In a way the fall of bookstores is a preview for what will happen with paper books.

Everyone loves bookstores and browsing and the smell and the experience. Yet more and more people buy books online. People say they love their local bookstore and want to support it and they do – just not enough to keep it in business.

Despite bookstores providing a better experience they are dying – the prices aren’t low enough, they aren’t open 24/7, and they aren’t built for lazy shopping in your pajamas.

They’re the perfect illustration of a model that’s past its time and finally beginning to die. There’s no guarantee that paper books won’t be next.  

eBooks will be the final nail in the coffin of bookstores

There’s no way to pretend eBooks don’t hurt physical bookstores – they do. Bookstores were already weak and suffering at the hands of online stores. Now, with eReaders and eBooks there are stores in the hands of readers and Physical Book Stores have an impossible task ahead of them.

Option 1 is a physical bookstore that’s 30 minutes away, has mileage costs, has taxes, has more expensive physical books, and in general is not very convenient.

Option 2 is a virtual bookstore that’s in your eReader, open 24/7, has lower priced books, and has more range.

It’s a fond goodbye to bookstores.

Will eBooks spell the end of Libraries?

It’s unlikely. Libraries are still vital for ensuring everyone can get the books they want.

With eBooks we have books that are cheaper – However, they aren’t yet cheap enough and you have the additional barrier of expensive eReaders. That means ending Libraries or reducing their role would take us back to a time of inequity where only the rich and well-off had access to books.

Let’s first look at the biggest threat to Libraries from eBooks – not death but a huge reduction in influence and scope.

eReaders are a limiting factor

A library with 50,000 books can serve, at least theoretically, 50,000 people at the same time.

A library with 50,000 eBooks and 500 eReaders can serve only 500.

It’s much tougher to serve a large number of people with eReaders and eBooks than with physical books. The only possibility is that lots of people buy eReaders on their own and use libraries for just eBooks.

Libraries need physical books as much as Publishers – perhaps more.

Libraries will need subsidies and very good strategies

It seems ridiculous to suggest that when eBooks take off the role of libraries will be cut to a fifth or a tenth of what it is today – However, it’s quite likely.

Look at all the things Libraries will have to pay for – eReaders, eBooks, licenses, buildings, staff, and so forth. The only advantage eBooks give Libraries is that the Internet Archive and a select few non-profits are actually adding free books. Every other advance in eBooks is a negative and threatens to gradually marginalize libraries.

It’s amazing to see Libraries completely miss the initiatives and changes that are going to kill them. They really need much better strategies. Titling a post ‘Libraries lead the eBook revolution’ is fooling no one.

eBooks are revolutionizing Publishing – It’s about time bookstores and libraries prepared for it

It’s unfortunate to see both libraries and bookstores treat eBooks as a small change – as if it were simply a case of all hardcovers suddenly getting acryclic leather covers that shine in the dark.

eBooks are a very, very big change.

They have the potential to take down the established Publishing power structure and create a completely new world of Publishing. Bookstores have little hope of surviving so they might as well keep believing whatever they like – we can’t do much to help them and perhaps neither can they.

Libraries, on the other hand, have a very good chance of surviving. There are a lot of companies that are doing big, positive things and Libraries can use that and embrace eBooks and stay away from the new breed of middle-men who’ll suck them dry.

It’ll be interesting to see if libraries will go down with Publishers and the existing power structure. Perhaps they will be more flexible than Publishers and survive and thrive. Perhaps they will need bail-outs to survive. Perhaps their role will be reduced to the point that they are no longer a pillar for reading.


Filed under: publishing




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