World libraries: Oregon libraries to offer e-books for e-readers

Thanks to the federal grant, a consortium of Oregon libraries will launch a collection of electronic books that can be read on digital devices such as Sony's Readers or the Nook from Barnes & Noble.

The State Library Board of Trustees awarded the grant this month to the Oregon Digital Library Consortium, which includes 26 library systems around the state, said Kim Wolfe, who is a member of the consortium's board. The consortium expects to buy about 5,000 e-books to start the collection. Wolfe said the collection likely will focus on serving adult readers initially with a full cross-section of nonfiction and fiction in a variety of genres. Officials expect it to become available sometime in March.

The e-books will be in the EPUB (Electronic Publication) format. Library cardholders from participating public and community college libraries will be able to go to the consortium's Web site, library2go.lib.overdrive.com, to "check out" an e-book to a personal computer, then transfer it to an e-reader. When the loan period is up, the e-book expires from the computer and is available for someone else to check out at the Library2Go site. Readers are excited about the new technology, which provides the ability to carry a whole shelf of books in a device about the size of a paperback book.