iBooks for iPad 1st generation

I had the same problem but was able to resolve it with technical info from Apple Customer Service.

The solution is to not use (or delete) the ibooks 3.2 app from your itunes on your Mac computer (and iPad), then use an older version of ibooks which is 3.1.1.ipa.

It is not easy to find an older version of ibooks because Apple doesn't seem to make it available it, but there are a couple of sites out there that have it if you seach for "ibooks 3.1.1.ipa download".

The site I found it on was: http://zonatrick.com/apps-games/download/mobile/UKjR0LcH/iBooks_311.htm.

GOOD LUCK.

If you ever downloaded the older iBooks with your Apple ID, it will allow you to download it again. If however, you never downloaded the iBooks app previously or are using a new Apple ID that hasn't done so, you may feel a bit of resentment at Apple's oversight. In other words, a gen 1 iPad could run a wide veriety of apps for an old user ID, but is severely limited to all new users or anyone who hasn't downloaded lots of apps just months ago.

If you can sign out of the App Store on the iPad and sign in with a borrowed Apple ID of someone who trusts you, the old versions will become available and you can keep them when you sign back in with your new ID.

I see now the other option folks have discovered and wrote up in other discussions. If you download iBooks or other new apps on a computer through iTunes, it counts as a previous purchase and allows you to immediately go to the iPad and download the app and prompts with a dialog box that lets you choose the older version. Be sure to use the same Apple ID on the computer that you'll be using on the iPad.