In 2010, research libraries find themselves in – to say the least – an interesting position. To a very significant extent, we have succeeded in moving two major subsets of our resources online: it is now generally assumed and expected that the majority of a research library’s journal collection and reference resources will be available electronically. Although significant problems remain to be resolved – pricing, access models, etc. – the move from print to online for those two categories of research material is clearly irrevocable and is, in functional terms, nearly complete. Momentum for the next phase of online migration – that of scholarly and popular monographs – has built more slowly, but in 2010 a tipping point is clearly at hand. Research libraries had earlier begun buying e-books (often in bulk) that they expected patrons to use like databases, which is to say for interrogation and selective citation rather than for extended linear reading. But in recent years two hardware developments have given added momentum to the emerging e-book market: first, the introduction and slow but steady popular adoption of the Kindle e-book reader in 2007 and 2008 (which by late 2009 had reached the important commercial threshold of spawning multiple competitors, including Barnes and Noble’s Nook) [3], and second, the market dominance of the iPhone, a smartphone on which e-books are relatively easy to read and which had also spawned many imitators by 2010, most of which make the downloading and reading of e-books affordable, easy and comfortable. The Kindle offers a more luxurious reading experience, while the smartphone offers supreme convenience; each solves a major e-book problem for end users. E-books have not yet achieved anything like the market penetration of e-journals. However, after more than a decade of false starts, the stars finally seem aligned: sales of both e-books and e-book readers are now rising steadily [9], and mainstream market analysts are predicting explosive growth over the next two years [8]. At this juncture, in what feels a bit like an eye in the storm of format transition, it is worth stopping and considering the issues that remain to be resolved, and to look at the ways that libraries, vendors and publishers are dealing with them.