If you look at our digital materials webpage and peruse the eBook devices supported by our eBook affiliates/vendors, you’ll see all kinds of companies and eBook models. Sony’s eReader is there, and so is the Nook. Conspicuously absent is the best selling eBook reader from Amazon: the Kindle. Sales for the Kindle skyrocketed after the release of their 3rd generation model, but the device is somewhat of a loner when it comes to libraries. Why is that?
Kindles and ePub don’t get along so well
There are a lot of file formats for eBooks. In the same way that a .jpeg at the end of the file indicates that the file is an image and a .doc at the end of a file name tells the computer to open the file in Microsoft Word, eBooks come in a wide variety of file formats. For example, eBooks are often made into PDFs for easy reading. Some companies and eBook readers have their own proprietary file formats – Kindle’s format is .AZW. EPUB is an open-source format used by a lot of publishers, universities and writers. The coding, or the guts behind the file format, are available for all to see. Google Books publishes most of their downloadable files in EPUB, and this is one of the file formats OverDrive offers for books.
Unfortunately, Kindle’s don’t “do” EPUB. Kindle’s like to stick to their own proprietary formats, like .AZW, .PRC or .MOBI. This means it’s hard for companies like OverDrive to offer books usable on the Kindle. It also means its easier for Amazon to encourage customers to purchase books from the Amazon store, NOT check them out or download them for free.
There is a solution! Convert EPUB files into Kindle friendly files
There’s actually a surprisingly easy way to convert EPUB files, or any other eBook file, into a format the Kindle can digest. Free software Calibre, designed and programmed by a highly talented programmer, is an excellent eBook collection manager, and used by many eBook owners to manage their eBooks and send eBook files to their readers from their computers. Calibre can convert eBook files into many other types of eBook files. Kindle also provides its own converter, called KindleGen.
Effectively, a user could download an EPUB file and convert it to a file format that the Kindle can read, most commonly a .MOBI file. You can use it for any other file format too. For example, Kindle’s can display PDF files, but you won’t be able to resize the text to make it easier to see. If you instead downloaded the PDF and converted it to a .MOBI file and then sent that to your Kindle, you would then have a version of the text where you COULD change the size of the text.
Changes on the Horizon
Amazon is working with distributors and decision makers to help libraries provide books from their collections to Kindle users. As a Kindle owner I look forward to seeing that happen. In the meantime, you can tell patrons with Kindles that they’re not out of luck – Kindles are excellent eBook readers, and made even better by the efforts of talented developers.
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