Downloading and reading e-books onto an e-reader depends on the format. Two common formats in University of Toronto Libraries' (UTL) e-book collections are PDFs (to read a chapter, or section, of a book) and ePUBs (to read the whole book):
PDFs
Many of UTL's e-book providers will allow you to download a portion, or a chapter, of the book in PDF, as allowed by the publisher. PDFs can be read on most e-readers, including Kindles, iPads, Nooks, Sony Readers, and Kobos.
ePUBs
Some e-books can be downloaded in full, or 'checked-out', for 14 days using Adobe Digital Editions 3 (ADE) software. Devices such as Sony Readers, Nooks, and Kobos will work with ADE. Refer to the list of ADE supported devices to learn more.
If you have an iPad, e-books from UTL's ebrary collection can be downloaded through the ebrary app, after creating an Adobe ID. The Bluefire Reader app also supports PDF and ePUB file formats, and also requires an Adobe ID.