WARWICK residents could soon be plugging in their iPads to hire out novels instead of taking home paperbacks - but it would seem some of the younger generation are not overly impressed with the idea.

Brothers Tim and James Walker spent yesterday afternoon in the air-conditioned space reading some novels in lounge chairs with older brother Tim saying he preferred that to reading from a computer screen.

"That's the way I've always done it - I find it more in depth," he explained.

However his brother James disagreed, saying his preferred choice was online because "you don't rip the pages".

Both have had the option to read online in school reading groups.

Warwick librarian SamShelbourn said hiring e-books was likely to soon become a reality, but the date depended on the library's system supplier Civica.

"They are looking to move into e-books but there's no timeline yet," she said.

"Some of the publishers are saying that actual physical books wear out after some time and so (e-book suppliers) may charge libraries again after some time to replace the book.

"But those issues are still being sorted out."

Some libraries, such as the one in Ipswich, are already offering the online hiring option to readers. People can hire the book by downloading it onto an iPhone or iPad in the form of an MP3, where it will stay for 14 days.

Ms Shelbourn said when Civica made the e-book system available, they would look at getting it.