Last month I wrote that it’s only a matter of time before most books are read digitally. But one drawback I mentioned is that the most popular book reader — the Amazon Kindle — doesn’t easily let you borrow library books. I’m a big fan of electronic-book readers, but I’m an even bigger fan of public libraries. It’s not enough to make it easy to purchase e-books. It’s also important to make it easy to borrow them from libraries.

Sony appears to be doing just that. Last week the consumer electronics company announced its newest Sony Reader e-book along with a partnership with OverDrive that will allow people to use their local library card to borrow digital copies of books and other media.

OverDrive works with public libraries to allow you to borrow books for a limited period of time. Even though there is no physical scarcity, as there are with printed books, the service protects the rights of publishers and authors by limiting not only how long you can keep a book but how many can be loaned out at a time. More