Amazon has just announced the immediate availability of a feature that we have been waiting for since the Kindle’s launch almost four years ago — public library lending for Kindle books at over 11,000 local libraries.

While that “11,000” figure is an important one, an equally important number will be the one that counts how many Kindle books are available for library-based borrowing. A first look at the Seattle Public Library’s Kindle offerings suggests that about a little over 25,000 Kindle books are available for borrowing on Day 1 — that’s less than 2.5 percent of the total Kindle catalog of 1,014,555 titles as of this morning.

Importantly, the library lending feature for Kindle is the first ebook platform to feature wireless delivery for library lending, which is likely to provide a major advantage for Kindle over its competitors.

A second important advantage for the Kindle library lending platform involves the fact that public library ebook borrowers will be include, in the words of Amazon’s Kindle director Jay Marine, “extending our Whispersync technology to library books, so your notes, highlights and bookmarks are always backed up and available the next time you check out the book or if you decide to buy the book.” 

The extension of these annotation, highlighting and bookmarking features to the Kindle library lending platform is bound to turn borrowing into buying for many readers — something that may help Amazon convince publishers and authors to expand their participating in the program.

Here’s the rundown on how to use the service from Amazon’s new Library Lending Kindle page:

Borrow Kindle Books from Your Local Library

You can check out a Kindle book from your local library and read it on any generation Kindle device or free Kindle reading app.When you borrow a Kindle public library book, you’ll have access to all
the unique features of Kindle books, including real page numbers and
Whispersync technology that synchronizes your notes, highlights, and
last page read. After a public library book expires, if you check it
out again or choose to purchase it from the Kindle store, all of your
annotations and bookmarks will be preserved.Kindle books are available at more than 11,000 libraries in the U.S.

How It Works

You can borrow Kindle books from your local library’s website and, with
the click of a button, have them delivered to your Kindle device or free
reading app.

• Visit the website of a U.S. library that offers digital services from OverDrive.

• Check out a Kindle book (using a valid library card).

• Click on “Get for Kindle” and then sign in to your Amazon.com account
to have the book delivered to your Kindle device or reading app.

Note: Public library books can be sent wirelessly to Kindle devices via an active Wi-Fi connection or transferred via USB.

Help

For technical assistance and frequently asked questions, please visit the Helppage at http://amzn.to/KINDLE-LIBRARY-HELP

For questions about availability of Kindle library books, loan duration, and terms of use, please contact your local library.

We welcome your feedback at
kindle-publiclibraries-feedback@amazon.com.

Here’s the guts of Amazon’s press release this morning:

“Starting today, millions of Kindle customers can borrow Kindle books
from their local libraries,” said Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle.
“Libraries are a critical part of our communities and we’re excited to
be making Kindle books available at more than 11,000 local libraries
around the country. We’re even doing a little extra here – normally,
making margin notes in library books is a big no-no. But we’re fixing
this by extending our Whispersync technology to library books, so your
notes, highlights and bookmarks are always backed up and available the
next time you check out the book or if you decide to buy the book.”

Customers will use their local library’s website to search for and
select a book to borrow. Once they choose a book, customers can choose
to “Send to Kindle” and will be redirected to Amazon.com to login to
their Amazon.com account and the book will be delivered to the device
they select via Wi-Fi, or can be transferred via USB. Customers can
check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on
any generation Kindle device or free Kindle app for Android, iPad, iPod
touch, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry or Windows Phone, as well as in their
web browser with Kindle Cloud Reader.

“This is a welcome day for Kindle users in libraries everywhere and
especially our Kindle users here at The Seattle Public Library,” said
Marcellus Turner, city librarian for The Seattle Public Library. “We’re
thrilled that Amazon is offering such a new approach to library ebooks
that enhances the reader experience.”

When borrowing a Kindle book from their local library, customers can
take advantage of all of the unique features of Kindle books, including:

• Whispersync technology wirelessly sync your books, notes, highlights,
  and last page read across Kindle and free Kindle reading apps
• Real Page Numbers let you easily reference passages with page numbers
  that correspond to actual print editions
• Facebook and Twitter integration makes it easy to share favorite
  passages with your social networks
• Popular Highlights show you what our community of millions of Kindle
  readers think are the most interesting passages in your books
• Public Notes allow you to share your notes and see what others are
  saying about Kindle books

To start checking out Kindle library books, visit your local library’s
website.