Skip to main content

Ebooks ... yet again

While I had a lot to say about ebooks in libraries last fall, I've since found it almost ridiculous to keep up with all the different news on that front. It's clear that things need to change, but there are so many possibilities for what direction that change is going to take.

However in the latest round of ebook developments I have to bring up a point that I think I first saw put forth by Jamie LaRue (although I can't seem to find the link now). Hachette recently decided to follow the example of Random House and dramatically raise its prices for ebooks sold to libraries. The argument here is that a digital file doesn't fall apart like a book and so libraries can lend them forever and never have to buy new copies of perennially popular titles. 

While it's true that libraries do buy replacement copies of books that don't physically hold up, during my years in a public library it was more common that mile-long hold lists were the reasons we bought more copies of a title we already owned (which is something we'd still have to do with ebooks). Once the first rush is over, though, we have twenty copies of Twilight just sitting on the shelf taking up room that could be used for new titles. And with a physical book we can just weed those copies to make room for more relevant titles.

But libraries buying multiple digital copies of Fifty Shades today will still have multiple copies of Fifty Shades not getting checked out in a few years. I find it hard to believe that those extra copies sitting around not getting checked out will really be hurting the publishing industry's bottom line. Meanwhile libraries had to spend two or three times as much per copy to buy ebooks, so we either didn't fully support a new format our patrons are using, or we didn't buy enough copies in a long standing format the majority of our patrons are still using.

Yet again libraries are getting screwed by publishers and publishers are claiming that they're just trying to protect themselves from all those free-loading public library patrons. Did they not pay any attention to the growing number of surveys pointing out what voracious book buyers, ereader owners and public library users are?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

2023 Reading Challenges

Total Books Read: 85  of 100 Read Books I Own: 9 of 15 He's Where the Joy Is: Getting to Know the Captivating God of the Trinity  by Tara-Leigh Cobble Anne of Ingleside  by L. M. Montgomery (re-read) Faraway: Fairy Tales for the Here and Now  by Rainbow Rowell, et. al. Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts  by Rebecca Hall The Truth About White Lies  by Olivia A. Cole Mark of the Raven  by Morgan L. Busse When Morning Comes  by Arushi Raina Revelation Bible Study: Extravagant Hope  by Margaret Feinberg Romans: Good News That Changes Everything  by Melissa Spoelstra Total Series Read/Caught Up On: 4 of 5 Beartown by Fredrik Backman Loose Ends by Rebekah Weatherspoon The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang To Love Your Enemy by Jungyoon and Taegon As for subject matter reading, I love doing Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge, even if I simultaneously chafe at someone else telling me what to read, leaving me scrambling to finish the last few challenges at the end of the

More Developments on Ebooks and Libraries

I've been meaning to write about the recent news in the libraries lending ebooks debacle, but I'm just now getting around to writing my thoughts out, so apologies if my links are a bit outdated. One of the great things to come out of ALA Midwinter this year was the plan to schedule meetings with the Big Six publishers to discuss the relationship between libraries and publishers when it comes to ebooks. ALA was successful in scheduling meetings with five major publishers, and while all the problems of libraries lending ebooks were not solved at these meetings, I can agree with ALA President Molly Raphael's general assessment that a lot of good information was shared on both sides and that everyone came away with a better understanding of the big picture than they had before and an ongoing dialogue had been opened. One of the main problems identified in the meetings that surprised me (but probably shouldn't have) is that intermediaries like Overdrive have now became

2018 Reading Resolutions

As usual I'll be attempting to read 100 books in 2018. Total Books Read: 102 of 100 I'm also going to valiantly try to read 20 books I own and get through the backlog on my bookcase. It would really help if I didn't do so much of my reading on audio (nearly all of which are borrowed at work) or get distracted when I'm looking for my next print read by all the pretty books at work. Books I Own: 2 of 20 Growing Up Country: Memories of an Iowa Farm Girl  by Carol Bodensteiner Say No to the Bro  by Kat Helgeson I'm also adjusting my series finishing goal this year. Life is too short to spend finishing series I only feel meh about, so finishing 5 series this year is plenty. Series Finished/Caught Up: 10 of 5 The War That Saved My Life Series by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Six of Crows Series by Leigh Bardugo A Narwhal and Jelly Book Series by Ben Clanton His Fair Assassin Series by Robin LaFevers (next book expected in 2019) A Court of Thorns and Ro