You can now borrow an iPad from your local library — that is, if you live in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Eau Claire's L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library will soon begin offering 32 iPads (first generation, 64GB with Wi-Fi, no 3G) for seven-day checkouts. The library will also have six iPads for on-premise use. Each iPad will be loaded with 1,000 books plus 10 audio books, library director John Stoneberg told TV station WEAU.

The program was made possible by a $50,000 grant from the Presto Foundation. A few restrictions apply: You must be over 18 and sign a contract to take one out. Anything you download will also be deleted. There's also a $10 per day late fee that maxes out at $100. If you completely trash the iPad, you will be on the hook for $1,020 — the price the library paid for the device plus an external keyboard and case, a library rep says.

The Eau Claire branch is certainly among the vanguard of libraries embracing the digital age, though it's hardly alone. Some 11,000 libraries (out of a total of 122,101 across the nation) this week began lending books for Amazon's Kindle ebook platform.

[via AllThingsD]



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