Quote:
Originally Posted by jswinden
I wonder just how many library books are read on eBook readers? I suspect it is a VERY small percentage compared to paid and free eBooks. Most libraries don't have much of an eBook selection and many have none. I checked into the selection several months ago and found nothing I cared to read. Polls that have been conducted in these forums tend to show a huge disappointment in the availability (or unavailability) of library eBooks.
My guess is that library eBooks will have little impact on the sales of readers capable of reading them.
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I may not be typical, but out of the 40 e-books I've read so far this year, 28 were borrowed from the library. Making use of library loans was my primary reason for switching from Kindle to Sony. My home county has a tiny selection of interesting e-books, but two neighboring counties (one in KY and one in OH) offer reciprocity and their Overdrive catalogs have more selections. I also pay for an out of state membership to the Free Library of Philadelphia. These changes are seriously worrisome for me. First off, geographical constraints will limit me to my home county library, which runs heavily toward juvenile fiction and historical romance, neither of which are of interest to me. Secondly, if the library can only lend an e-book 26 times, then I might not be able to get a book off of hold before it's used up. I've some titles on hold for up to three months before a copy was available to download, so it's a real concern.