Customers will be able to borrow Kindle books from over 11,000 local libraries to read on Kindle and free Kindle reading apps
Whispersyncing of notes, highlights and last page read to work for Kindle library books

Wow, in an incredible marketplace move, Amazon announced that later this year over 11,000 libraries will offer the ability to take out books on any Kindle (the actual device, iPad, iPhone, Android phone, etc). You will be able to highlight and annotate in the books. Then, if you check that book out again, or buy it, it preserves your annotations. It is definitely worth thinking about as schools watch e-reader developments.

I personally have read 10 books via the Kindle app on my Android phone. I have loved it, but have some critiques. That is for another post, I suppose.

Here is the article on Amazon's website, although via an odd URL that they seem to use for news releases.

With devices like the Kindle (from Amazon) and the Nook (from Barnes and Noble) there is a growing trend towards electronic books. Some have been fearful of the end of beloved paper books and some are hopeful (as a father expressed to me today) of the end of heavy backpacks! You may lean towards either perspective but the reality is that e-book readers are becoming more and more prevalent, and adoption seems to be unaffected by age groups.

We can only assume that the technology will get better, faster and cheaper – it’s a trend amongst all technologies. That being said, as schools we need publishers to find ways to utilize these new devices so that our students can benefit from them. We will stay focused on evaluating these devices to see if they have practical implications for our students.

I thought that this video from Mobile Art in Japan presented a compelling argument for hybrid-electronic-paper books:

Are you using e-book readers in your school? What about personally? What kind of impact do you think they can have for reading and learning?

photo by Enrique Dans, used under Creative Commons License

Amazon announces 11,000 libraries to lend out Kindle books. More gamechanging.

The Future of Books: Electronic?