This is kind of misleading, though. I got started e-reading at no expense at all, given that I already owned a computer, and most people do.
Download ADE if you want to get your books from the library. Hell, download the Kindle PC App or the B&N PC app, or epub reader and just start chugging away at the free classics and promos (or, heck, the bargain bin ebooks that are 99 cents to 2 dollars). Read the Baen free library. Pull your books off bittorrent if you can't afford the price of new. If anything, e-reading is cheaper than regular books if done on the shady side, and it doesn't require bus fare to the library!
The real barrier is computer ownership or at least the use of a computer.
Oh, and people don't see you as a snob if you read mostly SF or mostly romance. They see you as a totally different kind of stereotype completely
