eReaders Bring New Access To Library Books

It won't be long before you can borrow a book from your local library in digital format for an eReader.  Of course, you would need some digital rights management to disable the content after two weeks or some sort of online renewal mechanism, but there's no question that such convenience will lure readers back, especially when the content is free.  No more trekking down to the library if you can do this online at home.  Just the mere convenience of obtaining a book and traveling with one e-reader justifies investing in one.  

In Singapore, the electronic book reader was launched yesterday and provides access to 900,000 books for its residents.  The KeyReader is  a 19.6cm by 12.1cm, 300g touchscreen device with built-in wireless connectivity.  

A Las Vegas, NV, library has also launched an e-borrow program for your PC or Mac but so far these formats are not compatible with the Amazon Kindle.

If these devices are priced cheap enough, around $50-60, this would open up a huge market sector especially for students at colleges.  Who knows.......maybe the younger kids might start to read books again instead of just play video games!