[pokee]

There IS a HUGE benefit and that is: CONVENIENCE. Your ereader would probably save you money in gas after about a year's time if you go to the library that often.

I know I've even had issues getting the library books back on time (I have kids and work full time - sometimes I am just too busy!), so I owe money on fines because of that. Not sure if that's happened to you before.

I live in BC Canada, and our online library ebook selection is quite minimal, but I am told that it's growing quickly. I was still able to check out 5 fairly new releases and I have 5 more on hold. I don't think I'll ever have a problem borrowing books that interest me. For anything I am dying to read, I don't mind paying the $10, because I'll probably want to keep it anyway to potentially re-read later on down the road (I would use this same logic when buying hardcovers vs. checking out at the library).

The best part about checking out ebooks is that you can do it online at anytime, it's easy to search, it's easy to put holds on them (and they email you when it's your turn to check them out). That convenience is worth it's weight in gold.

I use a Kobo (sold at Chapters/Indigo in Canada and sold at Walmart and Borders in USA) and it supports the ePub format that the libraries use (whereas the Kindle does not). Sony's ereader also supports epub.

I think most Kindle users use python and calibre to strip the DRM and convert to kindle's format, but quite honestly, why the extra step when another comparable ereader supports this format? And what if ePubs evolve to prevent this stripping/conversion? Sure, there will always be another progream available to conform, but as easy as it can be made out to be, any extra step to me is hassle, plain and simple.

Make the move - I think you'll be glad you did. I don't think I've met anyone to get an ereader that hated it!