![]() ![]() Up until about two years ago, tablets and smartphones were more difficult, and often impossible, to use with library lending systems. And if you’re not tech-savvy or don’t have access to your own computer, the whole thing is even more frustrating. With some devices it’s a bit easier – Sony’s latest Reader has a Library app that hooks into Overdrive with fewer steps – but this tedious process is what most library patrons must go through. That system was first devised for E Ink e-readers and the method for loading e-books onto those devices is about the same now as it has been since 2009.īorrowing an e-book involves a ridiculous number of steps: You must create a free Adobe account, download Adobe software onto your computer, start an account with your local library, connect up those two accounts, and finally sideload the books onto the e-reader via USB. ![]() Overdrive uses the same Adobe DRM (Digital Rights Management) scheme as Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony, and Google Books to protect files from piracy and manage the lending period of library e-books. One of the early pioneers in the digital lending space was Overdrive, Inc., which developed the e-book lending systems used by most libraries today. The frustrating way we borrow e-books today ![]() The e-reader makers, library lending software developers, and the publishers are all working at odds and it’s us who suffer. So why is it so hard to borrow an e-book? It’s because none of the companies involved are working together. Often, the e-book you want is unavailable, either because it’s been checked out by another patron, it’s not in your library’s system, or it’s not available for your device. And once you finally figure out how to borrow a book, there are other frustrations. Since then, libraries across the country have quickly adopted lending systems that work with most major e-book reading devices from Sony, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Amazon.įour years in, borrowing an e-book from your local library is still a difficult and confusing process that varies wildly depending on what kind of e-reader or device you own. Libraries have been able to lend e-books for many years, but the practice went mainstream in 2009 when Sony announced a partnership with the New York Public Library. The literary world is slow to adopt and acknowledge that it is now a part of the tech industry, and no where is that more apparent than the sad state of e-book lending for libraries. However, though e-books are a huge portion of the book world today, you wouldn’t know it from walking the show floor. A gathering of publishers, booksellers, librarians, authors, reviewers, and book bloggers, BEA is the CES or E3 of the literary world. Two weeks ago, the annual Book Expo America (BEA) conference hit New York City. Share Photo by Pecan Corner Blogspot blog ![]()
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