I purchased the Nook Color solely because I can download books from my local library. Before I got the Nook the library delivered books to my home but I had to drive them back. I live in an over 55 gated community. As a community we begged the library for a drop box since the delivery person is here almost every day anyway, but they refused. However, back to the thread...we are very fortunate to live in a very large and well funded county. The library system is
one of the best and I've lived in several different states. Frankly I wanted the Kindle. After talking to a friend I found out I could not download books from the library on the Kindle. So-I got on the library site and looked for the books I was most interested in reading and also verified that the Kindle software is proprietary and not supported. I looked for New York Times Bestsellers. The books I wanted were on the site. By the time my Nook arrived it seemed everyone in the county had received an e-reader and the books I wanted were checked out.
I put the books I want on a hold list, and the library notifies me by email when a title on my list is available. I have 3 days to download and 21 days to read the books. I usually have at least 3 books checked out at a time. I would not be able to afford to purchase books at the rate I read them. I'd go broke! I would not have gotten the Nook and would have been stuck with hard copies from the library. E-reading is the greatest thing since sliced bread! The ease of not having to carry books around is fantastic. I can't wait to read at the pool when it warms up!