Amazon has todayannouncedthat it is to launch its own Kindle Lending Library service. The feature will allow Kindle customers to borrow Kindle books from over 11,000 libraries in the United States.
The company says that customers will be able to check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on any Kindle device or app free of charge. Amazon will work with OverDrive, a digital content solution provider for libraries in the US to offer what it promises will be a “seamless library borrowing experience” for Kindle users.
An interesting feature is that any annotations and bookmarks left by a user when they borrow a book will be preserved if they subsequently borrow it again or purchase it at a later date.
Borrowing Kindle books is something that users have been keen to do for some time, leading to the establishment of a number of unofficial solutions such asLendInkand theKindle Lending Club, which later evolved intoBookLending.com. It appears that Amazon’s service will require users to physically visit a library, however.
The scheme will launch later in the year.
Story byMartin SFP Bryant
Martin SFP Bryant is the founder of UK startup newsletter PreSeed Now and technology and media consultancy Big Revolution. He was previously(show all)Martin SFP Bryant is the founder of UK startup newsletterPreSeed Nowand technology and media consultancyBig Revolution. He was previously Editor-in-Chief at TNW.
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