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Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, said at the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting in San Diego that his greatest fear is that "libraries would just become a customer service department for a few large corporations." Kahle spoke on a panel at a packed session on January 8 about the challenges ebooks present to libraries. But for many public librarians around the country, Kahle's fear has already been realized, at least in part, as they handle an onslaught of confused masses beseeching librarians to teach them how to use their newly purchased ereaders or tablet computers.

The digital age has complicated things, especially for libraries. Not only do patrons want traditional services, like books and reference materials, they want them digitally as well. That means libraries have been confronted with the challenge of how to lend e-books. But it's not an easy task and there are so many business models, so many physical readers to choose from, that picking the right one is the equivalent of playing a game of "Go Fish."