In a one-year pilot program, Penguin has agreed to make its newer ebooks available at the New York Public Library and the Brooklyn Public Library, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Penguin is now working with 3M instead of OverDrive. If the program is successful, it could branch out to library systems across the country.

The reverse decision comes about four months after Penguin pulled its newest digital titles from libraries.

The new program allows the New York libraries to lend more than 15,000 Penguin front-list titles.

The catch is that the ebooks won’t be available until six months after the books’ initial publication date. The delay is designed to keep ebook library loans from cutting into sales of new ebooks.

The libraries will pay current market price for the ebooks and the titles are lendable one at a time.

Developers are now working with the libraries to develop an app which allows people to borrow ebooks on their smartphones.

Douglas County Libraries in Colorado – where ebook lending has grown about 1,200 percent since February 2010 – is developing its own app which releases this month. The app is supposed to allow patrons to browse, check out and read books.

 

The ebook lending evolution is hampered by the ongoing concerns of publishers who worry library digital distribution could hurt their bottom line. Ebooks are the fastest-growing segment of their business.

Some major publishers, such as Simon & Schuster, Macmillan and Hatchette, refuse to sell ebooks to libraries.

Meanwhile, readers can’t get enough of ebook lending. Library Journal reports public libraries increased their offerings by 185 percent this year. 

According to USA Today, the New York Public Library has quadrupled its ebook budget since 2009 and plans to spend $1 million this year, while the Seattle Public Library‘s ebook circulation grew by 92 percent in 2010.