The St. Paul Public Library will become a beta testing site for a new electronic book lending service on Wednesday.
The 3M Cloud Library eBook Lending Service will allow patrons to check out books on their own electronic devices or borrow such devices from the library to use at home.
The 3M system includes more than 100,000 titles from 40 publishers including Random House, Sourcebooks and IPG. 3M terminals with touch screens will help library patrons browse the digital collection. Digital readers also are synchronized with the library system.
Patrons won't need to visit the library to "check out" books. The digital bookshelf is available anywhere.
The e-books are compatible with PCs, Macs, iPads, Nooks, Androids and 3M eReaders.
The revolution starts at 10 a.m. Wednesday with a demonstration at the Sun Ray Library branch, 2105 Wilson Av.
The St. Paul library system has 14 locations, including 12 in various neighborhoods.
