elfwood--
You do realize that eNYPL has over 12,000 downloadable books in Adobe PDF format on their website, don't you? (These are from their Overdrive program.) You can read these on your computer, or on any device that supports Adobe Digital Editions DRM. More and more eBook devices are being released that support Adobe DE DRM.
Admittedly, the PDF files don't look as good on my Sony 505 as the ePub files I've downloaded from other libraries, but they are readable. I'm pretty sure that NYPL will begin offering books in ePub format soon as well. (I've done searches for specific books from Overdrive's website, and sometimes they show an ePub edition available at NYPL, but clicking on the link brings up an error page.)
You can search for other libraries from Overdrive's search page
http://search.overdrive.com/ . Most libraries don't offer cards to non-residents, but some do--with the payment of a fee. Check out to see which (if any) libraries offer books that you're interested in and in a format that's compatible with your device. Then check to see what type of residency requirements those libraries have (most have them posted on their website).
Hope this helps--
dordale
