With the growth of the Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, iPad (soon), and others (including Acrobat Reader), how will public libraries handle ebooks and real books in the future?

Actually, many already do. For instance, my local library offers ebooks as PDF downloads and other online reader formats for PCs and Macs. But will a patron be able to walk in with an iPad or Kindle and be able to "borrow" an ebook with the touch-of-the-screen? Of course, the library will need to control how many e-copies of an ebook it allows people to borrow at any one time, and the ebook will need to expire and "disappear" from the e-reader after a period of time (the due date). But there are less obvious questions:

1) Will I be able to bring my iPad with me and easily borrow a book directly into iBooks, along side the books I've purchased? Will my Kindle connect to the library's network and allow me to borrow and download an ebook as easily as I can purchase one over the Amazon/Kindle 3G network? I would certainly hope so. That's part of what makes these ebook readers so appealing - their ease of use and access to information. As far as I know libraries have currently taken the approach of lending out entire Kindles. That's a good option for many, but support for people who have them already should be provided as well. In fact, Sony's Reader already has built-in support for library books that remove themselves after a period of time (see here).

2) What will happen to traditional print? There are many more people who don't own ebook readers than those who do. And there will certainly be those who either refuse to move into the digital age of ebook borrowing, or who simply can't for physical, budgetary, or other personal reasons. Because of this, there will be a large period of time where libraries will need to make books available in both ebook and physical form. Also, there's something special about the look, smell, and feel of real books that even technophiles like me cannot resist. I read tons of stuff online, in PDF form, and on my mobile devices, but I also like libraries full of real books. I'm sure there are others like me.

The Future: The Digital Bookshelf

The third question is hypothetical (and hopeful): wouldn't it be neat if you could walk into a public library and have your Kindle, Reader, nook, or iPad recognize where you are, and then automatically make periodicals and other library-owned material available to peruse while you were there? It would be a "digital bookshelf," personalized for the library that you're in, but based on standards so that every public library in the nation that opts to participate could offer the same look and feel. Then, no matter which library you enter in the future, you'll have its full range of content at your fingertips to browse virtually while you were there, and borrow with a touch of the screen to read when you're back home or on the road... at least until the due date arrives :-)

Further Reading

Take a look at the ePub format, which has built in support for libraries and book borrowing, on Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epub. However, not all readers support it yet. Also, make sure you follow the developer opportunities that are born with the iPad in the future, as well as with the existing readers as they open up their platforms in order to compete.