NOTHING COSTS MORE THAN IT USED TO:

Kindle Connects to Library E-Books (JULIE BOSMAN, 9/21/11, NY Times)

For years the availability of free e-books from libraries was something of an underground secret.

But Amazon significantly increased the potential visibility of library e-books on Wednesday when it opened up its popular Kindle device to these books for the first time.

"Libraries are a critical part of our communities," Jay Marine, director of Kindle at Amazon, said in a statement. "And we're excited to be making Kindle books available at more than 11,000 local libraries around the country."

The introduction of the Kindle, the biggest-selling e-reader, opens up library e-books to a wider audience, heightening the fears of publishers that many customers will turn to libraries for reading material.

Follow @brothersjudd