Suffolk Libraries Introduce e-Books for Kindle

Amazon Kindle users will finally be able to make use of 's collection of over 3000 e-books, previously available only to Nook and Sony eReader users.

A deal reached earlier this year between Amazon and digital content provider OverDrive went into effect on Thursday allowing thousands of libraries to provide Kindle format e-books, including all Suffolk County libraries.

Customers will be able to check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on any Kindle device or free Kindle app for Android, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone. If a Kindle book is checked out again or that book is purchased from Amazon, all of a customer's annotations and bookmarks will be preserved.

"Normally, making margin notes in library books is a big no-no," Amazon Kindle Director Jay Marine said in a statement. "But we're extending our Whispersync technology so that you can highlight and add margin notes to Kindle books you check out from your local library. Your notes will not show up when the next patron checks out the book. But if you check out the book again, or subsequently buy it, your notes will be there just as you left them, perfectly Whispersynced."

The e-books can be checked out, up to five at a time, through the Northport-East Northport Library "Live-brary" site using your library card barcode. Live-brary provides a helpful digital media guided tour for first-time users.

Northport branch Digital Media Librarian Don Becker said he expects Kindle e-book downloads to pick up after the winter holidays and that he has already received a number of inquiries about the new service.

"Kindles are the most known e-reader out there and I suspect that there are a lot of people that have it. Now they'll be able to use the library more in that way," he said.