[slammerkin]

In the US, the libraries have Kindle Book as a checkout option, and the checkout process is actually much smoother than ADE. I don't know what's up with Ohio, but at all the libraries I use, most (but not all) books are available as Kindle Books.

That is strange. Our Ohio public library is an overdrive participant, under half our ebooks are available in Kindle format. Yes, you can check those 40% out in Kindle format, but about 60% of all ebooks available are only available at checkout as an epub/pdf format, or in some cases, as an audio file if an audiobook copy exists as well. Or you can read them online, using the library's ereader software. Thats not just my County's system either- I have electronic access to libraries all over Ohio and I participate as a researcher in a tri-state program that allows us access to neighboring state libraries remotely, 2 of which operate as Overdrive and one which has not yet evolved to Overdrive- all three have about the same with a little variance. They are located in neighboring states, so maybe it's a regional thing?

Of the 40% of ebooks that are available in Kindle format, they are almost universally available as epub as well, but the same does not reply in reverse. Again, they are making an effort, and I do see more Kindles added a lot, b/c they have a new section for them, but in real time, at least here, equal availability is not a reality yet.

Those are all typical libraries, with respect to state libraries, capital libraries, and inter-state participation for research, education, and museum lending institutions, 90 some percent are pdf (and by proxy, epub) only, if available in any ebook style format whatsoever. But most of that stuff isn't of much interest to the average reader, so i suspect that's why.

Library books are the one place where that breaks down; while theoretically you can DeDRM them the same, it doesn't really conform to the Fair Use excuse you are using, and is a far shadier thing to do than to strip the books you have purchased. Even if you plan on doing the right thing and deleting them when the loan expires.

I think you might have misconstrued what I said- I was in no way, shape or form advising, suggesting, or implying that anyone DRM strip their library books- I reiterated that doing so, even with the most innocent of intentions, is still illegal and that with a more viable option, not worth the risk even if you were just intending to make something available to a format for their reader.

do yourself a favor and don't get a Nook. Get a Kobo. There are weeks worth of reading material here and elsewhere as to why, but suffice it to say that the Nook is a dying/dead platform, the hardware is years old and was never all that good, and Kobo has the best customization options aside from having quite decent hardware.

I don't really know anything about Kobo; I've heard of them, but everyone I know has Kindles or Nooks, so I will definitely look into the Kobo. I'm not very tech-savvy, so that's part of the problem- I resisted the ereader thing until my son bought me one and I fell in love with it. I now only need 2 real books and my ereader, as opposed to 5 real books, to go get cigarettes, lest my car get buried in an avalanche and leave me stranded for days

I've had three pandigitals (the latter two were also gifts), all but one has died and they're all rather quirky. They were great as starters though, and I'm ready for something new so thank you on the Kobo advice

Now, if only I could find an ereader with a killer battery life... I'm off grid frequently, so it's always an issue. My ereader promised something like 8-14 hours, and at best, I got 4 when it was new- now, if i get an hour I'm lucky

Thank you again for the tip!