If the iPad “owns” the tablet category, Amazon’s Kindle device arguably controls the e-reader sector. In a move that may both aid the Kindle brand as well as e-reading in general, the Seattle-based online bookseller Wednesday announced an agreement with 11,000 U.S. libraries. The lending library service permits owners of either the Kindle device or a Kindle e-reader application to also access their notes, highlights and bookmarks.
“Normally, making margin notes in library books is a big no-no,” Amazon announced. However, if you check the book out again, or purchase the title, all annotations are preserved. Your notes won’t be available to other library patrons who check out the library e-book, though.
Amazon will offer the service “later this year.” Also, no list of participating libraries is available.
In March, Amazon reportedly shut down a service that permitted Kindle owners to exchange books. The service, Lendle, was shuttered after the Kindle-maker withdrew the service’s API.