Libraries check out eReading options

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Consumers have been inundated with eBooks and eReaders in recent years as companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble look to gain market share, and in the world of eReaders, all were pretty much created equal — that is — unless you had a Kindle.

For the last few years, Kindle users have been cut off from the world of free check outs from online libraries. But a policy change from Amazon recently opened up Kindle users to access current titles from more than 11,000 libraries around the country, including in Indianapolis.

With more than 85 reading devices in the marketplace and strong consumer acceptance of digital formats, Amazon’s eReader technology was considered the only one to be incompatible with library eBooks. The company tapped OverDrive — which provides eBooks to public libraries and schools — to help it come up with a solution.

Thousands of library systems, like Indianapolis Marion County Public Library, already had access to OverDrive. Now, Kindle users can access OverDrive through their local library to download current titles.

"Right now we've got about 17,000 titles and we're buying more every day,” says Mike Williams, the area resource manager for six libraries within Indianapolis Marion County Public Library system. “We have access to another 34,000 titles with free public domain eBooks that never expire or count against a patron’s loan limit.”

The library has witnessed a huge increase in its circulation of eBooks since the service began in late 2009. From January through September 2011, the library has circulated 72,845 eBooks, compared to 21,484 for the entire year in 2010. Those numbers are expected to grow even more now that Kindle users can check out books, too.

Many library systems around Indiana host their own eBook collections through OverDrive. Those systems are accessible through their websites. For libraries that either can’t afford, or don’t want to host a large collection on their own, they can buy into a system called the eIndiana Digital Consortium — a shared drive that allows members of public libraries to still access and download eBooks. 24-Hour News 8 found 12 library systems around Central Indiana with access to the eIndiana Digital Consortium.
The local libraries are as follows:

• Hamilton North Public Library: Cicero; Atlanta
• Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library: Zionsville
• Lebanon Public Library: Lebanon
• Middletown Fall Creek Library: Middletown
• Mooresville Public Library: Mooresville
• Morgan County Public Library: main office in Martinsville, Brookly Branch, Eminence Branch, Monrovia Branch, Morgantown Branch, Waverly Branch
• Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library: Plainfield
• Sheridan Public Library: Sheridan
• Thorntown Public Library: Thorntown
• Tyson Library: Versailles
• Waterloo Grant Township Public Library: Waterloo

To see the full list, click here .