St. Paul Library debuts 3M’s Cloud Library for e-book lending

St. Paul library patrons are among the first to crack open a new e-book lending technology created by 3M.

The 3M Cloud Library lets patrons borrow thousands of books electronically to be read on many e-readers (but not the Amazon Kindle). And there will be e-readers available for checkout, too, at three library locations, Central, Sun Ray and Arlington Hills.

St. Paul has long offered e-books through the OverDrive e-book lending system, used by many libraries around the state and the country.

But an open house today at the Sun Ray branch library showcases the new 3M system, which is also getting early rollouts at a few other libraries around the country.

Mayor Chris Coleman will be at the open house, and said he’s excited about the new technology:

“St. Paul is proud to be one of the first library sites to provide this service. The fact that the system allows eReaders to be checked out along with digital content is a great way to ensure eReading is available to all. For people who have their own eReading devices, the 3M Cloud Library gives them access to thousands of titles. This system has something for all St. Paul library patrons.”

The 3M system is compatible with  PCs, Macs, iPads, Nooks, and Android readers. The rival OverDrive system has an exclusive deal with Amazon for lending to Kindles.

The rules for readers using St. Paul’s 3M Cloud Library:

• Up to 10 e-books can be checked out at a time.
• 1 e-reader can be checked out at a time.
• e-books and e-readers are checked out for up to 3 weeks.
• e-books and e-readers may not be renewed.
• Customers may have holds on up to 10 e-books.
• e-readers may not be held.
• 3M Cloud Library e-books and e-readers are available to all customers with a library card registered in the St. Paul Public Library system.

Not all major publishers are making their books available to libraries for e-lending, as they try to keep up with the fast-changing digital book revolution. 3M hopes to add more publishers to the catalog soon.

Two Cities blog, which covers Minneapolis and St. Paul City Halls, is made possible in part by grants from The Saint Paul Foundation and the Carolyn Foundation.