Michael Bills of Baker & Taylor on the Future of Ebooks and Libraries
Aug 12, 2010In preparation for the Virtual Ebook Summit sponsored by Library Journal and School Library Journal on September 29, several vendor participants are providing their perspective on ebooks via three basic questions.
Michael Bills (Michael.Bills@baker-taylor.com), Director of Sales, Digital Products, for Baker & Taylor, responds below.
How long do you think it will take for libraries' e-book collections to outpace print book collections? (If ever...)
In academic libraries, we see a shift, nearing 50/50 for print and digital. And, some trade publishers are projecting digital sales will be 40-50% of their business within five years. We expect public libraries will closely track retail and within five years fiction and narrative nonfiction collections will primarily be digital. Expansion of digital collections in libraries will be accelerated by new technologies, such as Baker & Taylor's Blio. Through Blio, books—especially children's books, textbooks and lifestyle books—come to life in new ways.
What role do you foresee for libraries in the digital book world?
We have always supported the mission of libraries to provide their communities with information and entertainment. But the role of libraries is much larger. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we saw firsthand how in extraordinary circumstances libraries form the critical intersection of information and access that can save lives. The role of libraries doesn't change just because material formats evolve. Libraries remain the trusted institutions through which we access our history and the larger world, have our questions answered and our lives enriched.
How does your company's digital strategy reflect this?
We continue to invest in our services to support the shift toward digital, aiming to bring e-resources into the acquisitions and systems workflows established by our customers. To achieve this, we work with all stakeholders in our markets. With publishers, we provide digital conversion and distribution as well as print-on-demand services. For libraries, we offer e-content access on every major aggregation platform, and have expanded our notifications programs to include new e-Preferred Plans. And for all, we have introduced Blio, the world's most flexible and engaging e-reader application.
To sign up for the summit, go to www.Ebook-Summit.com.
