Many have predicted the eventual demise of physical books, as e-book readers and e-book demand soars.
Another interesting fact from the study: e-book borrowers are avid e-book buyers.
She said the popularity of e-readers and tablet computers as Christmas presents had also helped to make January Surrey's busiest e-book month so far, with 2, 469 e-book loans.
According to the complaint, the five publishers and Apple were unhappy that competition among e-book sellers had reduced e-book prices and the retail profit margins of the book sellers to levels they thought were too low.
The company has spent heavily on promoting its e-book reader, the Nook, and e-book sales in its stores.
Earlier this year, Pew research found that about one in five U.S. adults have read an e-book in the past year, and that e-book users tend to read over 30% more books per year than people who only read printed material.
CNN: E-book lending: Your public library's best kept secret?
Formatting and layout of text in the e-book may be different, but the informational content of an e-book will not differ in any substantive respect from that of a tangible, printed copy of the same book.
Publishers have largely resisted e-book library lending because they're concerned it might undermine their own e-book sales.
CNN: E-book lending: Your public library's best kept secret?
Close on the heels of the launch of its e-book store in Brazil, Amazon announced the launch of its Kindle e-book store in China last Thursday.
FORBES: Amazon Can Drive Big Kindle Growth With China Launch
Pew also found that 12% of all Americans age 16 and older who read e-books have borrowed an e-book from a library in the past year -- and they're generally pretty happy with the experience.
CNN: E-book lending: Your public library's best kept secret?
Some library patrons reported waiting lists for popular e-books, or that the library e-book wasn't offered in a format compatible with their device.
CNN: E-book lending: Your public library's best kept secret?
We see that Amazon is trying to cut publishers out and become a direct-to-e-book publisher themselves.
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Guests not keen on paying for an e-book they might have to abandon halfway through can choose from the 15, 000 free titles in Amazon's free e-book collection.
As well as being used for in-store signage, E Ink's technology powers Sony's e-book reader, and in April, Seiko, a watchmaker, unveiled a digital watch built around an E Ink display.
"We've used our expertise to create a high-quality e-book with today's on-the-go consumer in mind, " said Young Bae, director of display marketing, Samsung Information Technology Division.
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The HarperCollins negotiations with Apple represent a direct challenge to Amazon, which dominates the fast-growing e-book market but which could face significant competition from an Apple tablet.
"The deal points are confidential but it is essentially consistent with the agreements we have with other authors and literary agencies for their back-list e-book rights, " said Stuart Applebaum, a spokesman for Random House.
When the company reported on Wednesday that e-book and e-reader sales were up 30% over last year and that pre-orders for the new line of Nook e-readers were up 240% over past versions of the device, shares jumped.
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"After the hyper growth in the e-book market over the last few years, consumers have settled into their book formats of choice, and while e-books will continue to drive growth in the book category in the future, physical book sales will have a longer tail (or longer life expectancy) than previously anticipated, " he said in a call with investors.
The Right Fight, by Saj-Nicole Joni and Damon Beyer, is available in book, e-book and audio formats.
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Stephen King's Riding the Bullet: Stephen King ushers in the electronic book age with his newest thriller -- available exclusively in e-book form.
The Nook competes against Amazon's Kindle e-reader, as well as Apple and Google in the e-book market.
The iBookstore and the iPad went hand in hand and it was a promise to publishers that they would have more than one major customer for e-books, diversifying their market and helping build the overall e-book industry.
FORBES: When Apple Changed the Publishing World: From iPad to iPad Mini
The Right Fight, by Saj-Nicole Joni and Damon Beyer (HarperCollins, 2010), is available in book, e-book and audio formats.
But, interestingly, slightly more library e-books borrowers told Pew that when they want to find an e-book, the first place they look is an online bookstore -- not the library.
CNN: E-book lending: Your public library's best kept secret?
Now that it has nailed the e-book business, E Ink is diversifying again.
Of the six largest publishers in the U.S., only two have full-fledged library e-book lending programs: HarperCollins and Random House.
The display self-adjusts to become an ultra-high contrast e-book reader in bright sunlight, and a bright full-color backlit display in normal light.
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Overdrive, which powers the back-end of e-book lending for thousands of libraries, has confirmed that Penguin is no longer allowing library lending of its new titles.
FORBES: Penguin Group Has Halted Library Lending For E-Books
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