Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Kindle Lending Club

I worked as a school librarian for 30 years so book borrowing and lending just comes natural to me.  I recently received a Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device as a gift and I am totally hooked.  I am slowly selling and giving away my print books and plan to go 100% digital in the future.  I truly believe that ebook readers are here to stay.
In December, Amazon announced their new ebook lending program.  This allows Kindle users to lend their ebooks one time with a two week time limit.  This is a wonderful feature that allows book borrowing and lending.
Catherine MacDonald, a 40-year-old mother of three, had the idea for the Kindle Lending Club after hearing about the Kindle’s new lending feature, and quickly started a Facebook page to facilitate the lending and borrowing process. In doing that, she has created something akin to a modern-day electronic library service.
On Sunday, January 16th, a beta Kindle Lending Library site went live on the web.  I jumped right in and listed about 20 Kindle books that I was willing to lend.  Almost immediately, I was notified that there were requests for 11 of these books.  I copied the email address of the person making the request and then filled out the "Loan" form on Amazon.com. This morning I received my first book request from a member of the Kindle Lending Library.  This is a book that I really wanted and would have probably purchased if I had not borrowed it.  I have two weeks to read the book before it is automatically returned to the owner.  I can then purchase the book if I decide I want to add it to my permanent ebook library.
This is a fantastic FREE service and I look forward to to lending and borrowing ebooks in the future.  This kind of service just might be the library of the future.  I love it!

3 comments:

Heidi Brawley said...

This sounds very interesting. So do you have to buy an internet plan to use this Kindle??? I am just sooo clueless about it. I love books too.
Sincerely,
Heidi Brawley

Martha Giffen said...

Thanks SO much! I had no clue we could borrow books on Kindle. I have been using my Kindle for a year and LOVE it! I'm impressed that you are giving and selling your hardbacks. Haven't been able to do that yet! Thanks for the link :)

Amy said...

Ahhhh stupid international rules. I seem to not be able to lend Kindle books yet here in Canada... :( Even if the book is lending enabled, and purchasable in US or Canada, I can't lend. If I change my country (I spend a lot of time in the US for work) I CAN lend. Grr.

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