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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While it might be a small percentage (or might not), the ability to easily borrow ebooks from the library is a very important factor for many people when choosing an ereader. You can see that just by the number of people making that point in the "Which one should I buy?" topics.
I wouldn't say that library ebooks aren't popular either. Clevnet has more ebooks than anyone else at the moment, 21,000 or so. From my own experience, I can tell you there are often long waiting lists for books, even for obscure and not very popular titles. If a book is hot you could be waiting months for it to become available. I can see a really popular title expiring before I even get a chance to borrow it.
Even though I own a Kindle, I'm not anti-Sony or any other reader (except the iPad). So, I'm hoping this won't have a lot of impact, but I think it might. We'll have to see if the practice spreads and how libraries and Overdrive respond.