County Councillor Pat Corfield, Cabinet member for Culture, Communities and Customers, tries out an E-book at the Shire Hall Library in Stafford.

E-books are now available to library members across Staffordshire as part of the county council’s ongoing commitment to expanding the vital service.

More than 1,000 titles can be borrowed, free of charge, for three weeks for use on book reading devices like iPhones, book readers or iPads.

Readers can visit www.staffordshire.gov.uk/libraries to download fiction, biography and lifestyle books.

The service has been introduced at a time when many libraries across the country are under threat.

Staffordshire County Council, however, has pledged its ongoing support for the service and recently rolled out Wifi access at all its main libraries following a successful pilot project in Burton.

County Councillor Pat Corfield, Member for Culture, Communities and Customers, said the service would attract new members to Staffordshire’s libraries.

He added:

“Staffordshire’s libraries are already at the forefront of new technology with services like Wifi, and the new E-Books service will bring in people who may have not used the library service before.

“It gives people a new way to read, and continues the library ethos of making books available free of charge to people across Staffordshire.

“The E-Books service is further demonstration of our commitment to investing in local libraries.”

E-Books for children and adults are available and can be reserved for free if they are already on loan.

Late evening has proved to be the most popular time to borrow an E-Book, suggesting that new technology is being used for traditional bedtime reading.

Staffordshire’s libraries offer so much more – books are just the starting point.

Libraries offer free internet access, parent and baby sessions, meeting rooms for business, DVDs and CD loans, ICT training, local history events, reading clubs and so much more. Go down to your local library to find out.

For more information on the E-Book service and to download please visit www.staffordshire.gov.uk/libraries