Penguin Group has reached a deal with the New York and Brooklyn Public Library system, which will enable the institutions to lend out e-books to their patrons. 

The Wall Street Journal reports that the pilot program could signal a new relationship between libraries and publishers. Reporter Jennifer Maloney writes, "If successful at the New York Public Library and the Brooklyn Public Library-two of the country's largest library systems-Penguin said it could offer similar deals to libraries across the U.S., including school and university libraries. And the deal could prompt other major publishers that currently don't sell e-books to libraries to soften their stances, said Matt Tempelis, global business manager for the 3M Cloud Library."

Penguin has penned an agreement that will protect their profit-margin and guarantee that libraries will not undercut other sales.  In the agreement, it will only be after six-months of a book's publication that Penguin will sell the books to the libraries at a cost that is said to be in range of what retail customers pay.  The library 

Penguin had stopped selling books to libraries in late 2011 because it expressed concerns over the security of e-books on library servers.

The President of Brooklyn Public Library, Linda Johnson told the paper, "Publishers haven't been doing business with libraries this year, so this is a great moment for us," she said. "We're thrilled that Penguin has come back to the table." 

The relationship between libraries and bookstores has been a tenuous one, namely because publishers were concerned that it would disincentivize customers from buying books.  Some publishers like HarperCollins have imposed limitations or prohibitive pricing that made e-boooks out of reach for many libraries.