Last year, Christmas was the biggest single day for e-book sales by HarperCo

Last year, Christmas was the biggest single day for e-book sales by HarperCollins. And(26)indications are that this year’s Christmas Day total will be even higher, given the(27)extremely strong sales of e-readers like the Kindle and the Nook. Amazon(28)announced that it had sold one million of its Kindles in each of the three(29)previous weeks. But we can also guess that the number of visitors to the e-book sections of public libraries’ websites is about to(30)set a record, too. And that is a source of great worry for publishers. In their eyes, borrowing an e-book from a library has been too easy. It is worried that people will(31)click to borrow an e-book from a library rather than buy it. Almost all major publishers in the United States now block libraries’(32)access to the e-book form of either all of their titles or their most recently published ones. Borrowing a printed book from the library(33)imposes an inconvenience upon its patrons. "You have to walk or drive to the library, and then walk or drive back to return it," says Maja Thomas, a senior vice president of the Hachettte Book Group. And print copies don’t last forever, and the ones that are much(34)in demand will have to be replaced. "Selling one copy that could be lent out an infinite number of times with no friction is not a(35)sustainable business model for us," Ms. Thomas says. E-lending is not without some friction. Software ensures that only one patron can read an e-book copy at a time, and people who see a long waiting list for a certain title may decide to buy it instead.