So Bethesda used a plethora of books to explain the backstory of the world, it was clunky, but mostly ignorable, you read them the first time, got the background, then ignored them in consecutive playthroughs, and really, Bethesda isn't good at CRPGs, but Skyrim was a roaring success. They did this in at least the last two Elder Scrolls games.
Pathfinder found a different way to get that information across, from the looks of that screen shot, it seems far more intuitive.
The Forgotten Realms has reams of information available about it, but the player doesn't need to know about Thay, they don't need to know about Zhentil Keep, they need information about the local geography, the relevent gods, and data that influences the story. There isn't a call for an in depth history of Icewind Dale here, but a bit of information on what the Underdark is about, what might be encountered there, and a bit of lore available to the common man might not be out of place. It wouldn't hurt for your character to find a map of the sword coast for instance, even if your location on that map is not clear.
The devs have already used a bard to tell a tale, though it could have provided actual information rather than being used to create a wierd story element. They have books, though really, they are just as clunky as they are in other games, so I hope they don't over use them. I personally don't intend to carry a library in my inventory. I do see the appeal when you consider cross platform gaming however.
We have yet to come across a tavern in EA, but installing a bard in a tavern that sings tales of the sword coast in the background could also be of benefit for general information.
