Royal Borough libraries to be part of e-book research

Residents who use the Royal Borough's e-lending service are to help a pilot study to assess the commercial impact of electronic books.

The borough is one of four local authorities nationwide taking part in a project carrying out real-time research into the impact of e-book lending in public libraries.

The year-long pilot will look at the impact on authors, publishers and libraries to help find a suitable and sustainable model for all stakeholders.

The study will mean borough residents will have access to nearly 1,000 e-titles not currently available in other authorities, including new releases which will be introduced over the course of the year.

The project is being run in partnership with the Society of Chief Librarians and the Publishers Association.