That seems odd, I would have thought that a library lending the readers would also lend e-books.
Our library is going through a consultation process at the moment to modernise/cut costs. Some people have suggested e-reader lending but it is not a popular idea due to the cost . I completely agree but then there is also opposition against providing e-books at all which I disagree with. Saying that the debate is just going around in circles, mainly because people who have no idea about e-readers and e-books keep confusing matters, one suggested that the library was just going to scan all it's books and not care about copyright
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Might be worth asking the librarians about the choice to provide the readers and not the books. I'm not sure how it would work either, at least for the Kindle. Do people register and de-register time and time again? Can anyone borrow them? Are they pre-loaded with books?