For the last several years a company called OverDrive has really blazed the trail that is e-book lending. Just a few years ago, the idea of being able to "borrow" an ebook seemed impossible - or at least improbable, but OverDrive channeled their inner-spy movie to figure out a way to make it work. Basically, you "check out" an ebook by downloading the book to your e-reading device, computer, or smart phone. Then after the set number of lending days, the file practically self-destructs. You can no longer open it...therefore you have "returned" the book for someone else to borrow.
Until the middle of last week, this was a great tool, but it was missing a key component. Amazon had not yet agreed to allow lending to its extremely popular Kindle. Now that Amazon and OverDrive have come to an agreement, library media center lending of ebooks could potentially skyrocket. I'm anxious to see what this means for the future of circulation and for the future of library media centers.
Although we do not currently have OverDrive on this campus, it is available at two local public libraries -
Hewitt Public Library and
Waco-McLennan County Libraries. All you have to do to be able to download is get your library card.
What do you think about ebook lending or ebooks in general? Let us know!
