New digital readers have taken their place on the shelves at the City of North Vancouver Library next to paperback books, and already they're proving popular.

Within a day of stocking 10 Kobo eReaders with 150 books downloaded onto each, readers have already snatched them up and created quite the waiting list.

"They're all checked out and as of this morning there were about 32 requests and we're now up to 38," said digital and information services librarian Chris Koth on Friday morning, a day after the eReaders were introduced. "I guess there really was a demand for this."

The books are stocked with 100 classics, such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as well as the books from the Globe and Mail's current bestselling books list.

The library is the first in Canada to introduce the Kobo readers, as opposed to Amazon's Kindle or the Sony eReaders. They were chosen because they're compatible with the province's online book catalogue, which adds 4,400 available title, and they are much easier and simpler to use, said Koth.

"There's no Wi-Fi, there's no keyboard, no multitude of functions that can be confusing," he said. "The books are there, you turn it on and it's very easy to go from one to the other."

He said he's not too concerned about lost or stolen Kobos, as they cost about the same as four hardcover books.

Officially the introduction is part of a pilot project that will last until December to test the readers and see if there's long-term demand for them. There are plans to expand the collection to include other kinds of digital readers if it's successful.

He said he's received a lot of interest from people going on vacations who want to save space in their bags, as well as those who commute, adding most of the people have been middle aged and older.

Joy Parreno makes the trip to the library about three times a week for old fashioned paperbacks, but said she could see herself picking up a Kobo for certain situations.

"If I travel, I would do that because it's easier and lighter," she said. "I haven't really thought about it, but I would like to try one."

She said it might be easier for her eyes as well, since she can increase the font size as she gets older, but she didn't think it would replace the paperback books in the bag slung over her arm.

There's also plans to introduce a downloading station at the library to allow people to stream audio books onto their mp3 players rather than signing up online.

While Koth sees digital media playing an increasing role in how the library works, he said it won't be replacing traditional paper books any time soon.

"We are embarking on a digital strategic plan that will see us not replacing, but augmenting and complementing our print collection," he said.

West Vancouver introduced five Kindle eReaders in July.

tholloway@nsnews.com