In a late afternoon press release, Barnes & Noble announced the creation of a digital bookstore of more than 700,000 books. In an equally dramatic announcement, the bookseller revealed an exclusive agreement to supply e-books for upcoming Plastic Logic reader.

This e-book storehouse will contain 500,000 downloadable free public domain e-books via a partnership with Google Books. According to Fortune, the books will be available on digital readers for the iPhone, BlackBerry, Mac and PC platforms. Also, the bookstore will utilize the Fictionwise e-book company that Barnes & Noble acquired in March.

Here's more from Plastic Logic VP of business development Daren Benzi, from the article: "Will we carry every single one of those 700,000-plus titles? I don't know. We'll announce that as we get further along ... But we will have access to them all."