I am new to the Apple world, but am looking forward to the new Ipad!!!
Will the Ipad be able to either using ibook app or another app, be able to read non DRM epub books.

Yes you will be able to add ePub books to your iBooks library if they DRM free. There are already ebook readers available on the iPhone/iPod Touch that allow you to add your own ePub books. I don't see why the developers wouldn't make an iPad version.

EDIT: Here is more info:

We also have some good news and some bad news regarding iBooks. The bad news is—and this is something we fully expected—books purchased through the iBookstore will have Fairplay DRM and won't be compatible with other e-readers. The good news is that iBooks uses the standard ePub format, so any DRM-free ePub files can be loaded into iBooks using iTunes syncing. (Apple hasn't said whether publishers will have an option to make their titles DRM-free.) Some even better news is that iBooks can use VoiceOver to read the contents of any book aloud. You might remember that publishers balked when Amazon added a similar feature to the Kindle 2, and Amazon was forced to remove the capability for most books—though publishers can still choose to enable it on a per-title basis.

You'll also have access to Project Gutenburg 30,000 public domain ebooks...

So are libraries going to be able to loan out drm library books for 2 weeks like they can regular books?

Does anyone know any libraries that are already doing this?

Originally Posted by iVan

You'll also have access to Project Gutenburg 30,000 public domain ebooks...

I Love the project Gutenberg as my wife (chinese) and Me (French) find book for both with same app's (stanza) (we use the same iTunes account)

But the 10 first pages is the weak point of Stanza

Originally Posted by Finnedog

So are libraries going to be able to loan out drm library books for 2 weeks like they can regular books?

Does anyone know any libraries that are already doing this?

An interesting thought. You have been listening to the iPad Possibities Podcast have?

I think it is possible, however it's a question of whether or not libiraries have the resouces to investigate and implement those options. I'd be more interested in site license deals for e-text books at greatly reduced prices from print ones, with a deal for updates and support.

Originally Posted by Finnedog

So are libraries going to be able to loan out drm library books for 2 weeks like they can regular books?

Does anyone know any libraries that are already doing this?

They already do but it requires overdrive and right now only the Sony ereaders have it. I've been waiting for an overdrive iphone app for awhile now. I read there was one in the works but who knows when.

I use MelodyCan to remove drm . Works Perfect . Get it at convert-any-media.com

Originally Posted by Castiel

I use MelodyCan to remove drm . Works Perfect . Get it at convert-any-media.com

Thank you for this info.