Amazon cites pre-order volume for new Kindles
Kindle Library Lending will arrive later this year, Amazon says, though the company did not announce an official date. Reuters

Not long after taking aim at ebook lending websites in recent weeks, Amazon has announced an ebook lending program of its own for the Kindle.

Amazon revoked lending sites' access to the application programming interface for the Kindle on March 22, making it impossible for them to offer that kind of service. Amazon reinastated the access soon afterwards.

Now the company plans to do its own lending later this year. It will work with 11,000 U.S. libraries. Amazon did not say how long each lending period would last. However the feature will be provided by OverDrive, the same company that provides similar functionality for Sony's eReader and a number of other devices. Via the service, libraries can lend books for either 14 or 21 days. Amazon's system is likely to be similar.

Amazon has also found a way found a way to allow borrowers to retain their margin notes once their lending period is over. Via Whsipersync, borrowers can retain their notes even after their books are returned, allowing them to reuse the notes if they borrow the same book again.

The company did not announce a firm date for the rollout. The service will work with all models of the Kindle.

Amazon's announcement comes shortly after Harper Collins announced that it would be putting a twenty six loan cap on ebook circulations. While it is unknown how publisher caps will work in the Amazon system, OverDrive CEO Steve Potash said in February that his company is required to abide by the terms set by publishing companies.

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