14 DAY TRIAL // Having an e-reader implied that one also purchase one or more books to actually give it something to do, but it appears this is no longer the case, for Amazon's Kindle at least.
Amazon decided that it just wasn't doing enough for its customers, or figured that free books will do wonders in the PR and Kindle sales department, or both.
According to the newest press release, Kindle owners with Amazon Prime membership now have access to the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
The service is exactly what it sounds like, an online library from which Kindle owners can borrow books for free.
Only one book can be borrowed at a time, and as frequently as one a month, but the rest of the terms are, arguably, more lenient than those of real-life libraries.
The most relevant point is how any book can be kept for as long as users might wish to before returning it.
The other major advantage is that Kindle owners can make highlights, notes and set bookmarks on those books and, should they decide to borrow it again in the future, those things will be saved.
“Owning a Kindle just got even better. Today, we’re introducing a new Prime benefit built for Kindle: The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO.
“Prime Members now have exclusive access to a huge library of books to read on any Kindle device at no additional cost and with no due dates.”
Kindle owners who have Prime membership already get free two-day shipping, about 13,000 movies and TV shows through free streaming and, now, thousands of books to borrow at no additional cost (Lending Library access is given for free to people with annual Prime membership).
Obviously, any borrowed book can be returned from the same device at whatever point in time users so decide.