A panel of librarians at BookExpo America on Wednesday morning described how they are grappling with the multi-tentacled beast called ebook.
To frame the discussion at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, a clarion-voiced Robin Nesbitt, the technical services director at Columbus Metropolitan Library in Ohio (2010 LJ/Gale Library of the Year), reminded the audience that beyond the ubiquitous questions about technology and business models, there remains a philosophical issue.
"Right now anybody, any age, any demographic, if you are poor, wealthy, took a shower yesterday or you didn't, you can walk into the library, pick a book up, and check it out," she said. "We are starting to have this divide in this country with the haves and the have nots. So, if I can afford an ereader I can get ebooks. If not [you're out of luck]. And libraries are all about agents of democracy, we are about bridging that gap. ... As publishers and librarians that's even a bigger issue to start thinking about. Does everybody in this country have access?"
Despite the arguments and hurdles that ebooks present, Nesbitt said there remains a positive element at the core, which is that people are "whipped up about reading."
"What I like about this whole thing is it keeps reading in the forefront of people's consciousness. Let's focus on that.... We've got people excited about reading...woohoo it's controversial!" she said.
Working with publishers The panel for the most part struck a conciliatory tone toward publishers, and toward HarperCollins in particular, whose recently enacted policy of capping ebook circulations at 26 before requiring libraries to pay for a new license has been widely criticized across the librarian community.
"I love that HarperCollins is the only one who really gives a discount on ebooks," said Michael Santangelo, an electronic resources specialist at the Brooklyn Public Library. "That's one positive thing I can say about it. They give a good discount, and, especially on the second copy, they've been putting out paperback pricing for some of their ebooks," he said.
Nesbitt and Santangelo both said HarperCollins deserved credit for fostering a dialog and a starting point for negotiations with libraries, unlike other publishers such as Macmillan or Simon & Schuster, which do not have an ebook model for libraries.
"Some of us do database negotiations so we were kind of already prepared for this, we know how to go in, we know the first offer is always something you laugh about," Santangelo said. The recent statement by Josh Marwell, president of sales for HarperCollins, that the circulation cap was a "work in progress," was an encouraging sign, Santangelo said.
"We've already weakened them a bit, so we are at a good starting point. So, if we really do work together...and if we experiment and say how it turned out for us and can show some data...then we can work toward better models," he said.
Katie Dunneback, a consultant at East Central Library Services, a consortium that serves 25 counties in southeast Iowa, said ECLS has decided not to deal with the publisher.
"If there is a specific request we will buy HarperCollins, otherwise no. Since it's a defined lifetime [for the ebook], we can't do...that," Dunneback said.
But Nesbitt harked back to the need for readers.
"We're still buying it, buying it all. I think what HarperCollins did was to [keep] the conversation going and what I want to say is thank god HarperCollins is there because we have some publishers who aren't participating and that's what I need. I need everybody to play, to be in the field, because we serve readers and by god we need more readers and I think that's the great thing," she said.
Growth in demand just beginning All four panelists described an exponential upward demand for ebooks. For example, Michael Colford, the Boston Public Library's director of resource services and information technology, said he expects the library's ebook budget to triple next year (FY12) from its current total of $105,000 (about 5 percent of the library's materials budget).
"We know for a fact it's going to increase," he said. "Our ebooks budget is going to be the only growth area in our entire budget in the coming year."
At Columbus, ebook circulation has jumped about 140 percent and the ebook budget has soared from about $30,000 a year to $350,000 with more growth to come.
"I expect to double [demand] by the end of the year especially with the Kindle announcement," Nesbitt said. "I'm waiting for that to happen and then I'm just going to pour money into that," she said.
Amazon announced last month that it would enable library lending on the Kindle via OverDrive.
The growth in demand has created budget challenges as well as a possible opportunity to find common cause with publishers, the panelists said.
"One myth that might need to be combated is that when something new comes up that somehow it displaces the demand for something else and that doesn't necessarily ring true," Santangelo said. "One need doesn't displace another, it just gets added on," he said.
As a result, Satangelo said he resists the urge to take money from other areas of the budget to fulfill the demand for ebooks because "we still need books."
Dealing with ease of use Ease of use remains a big issue and a place where publishers can lend libraries a hand, the panelists suggested.
"If you would be our advocates and help to work with the platform providers and also Adobe and find better systems that could make everyone's life so much easier because the faster the patron gets your book and reads it the more enjoyment they get, the better feedback we get, it works for everyone," Santangelo said.
If the technology that delivers an ebook to an ereader were invisible, usage would skyrocket, Dunneback said. And Colford said that the next biggest issue that needs to be addressed is allowing patrons to download books at the library, not just from their home, which is all current models allow.
All the panelists said they would be willing to pay more, much more, for a concurrent, unlimited usage model, since it fits the user's expectation of instantaneous, unlimited access to digital material. And they would welcome a confluence of platforms to spare their staff and patrons from having to deal with such a wide variety of ebook environments.
Colford reminded publishers in the audience that libraries have been and can continue to be an engine that grows their customer base.
"I totally get that publishers don't really need libraries for big bestsellers," he said. "Where libraries are really much more vital is those midlist titles and debut authors.... If I was going to try a debut author I would much more likely check the book out, see if I like it, and then if I like it I'm going to buy their books after that. So, I think that kind of thing is more where libraries and publishers can work together better," he said.
A split pricing model---one price for bestsellers, another for midlist or debut authors---might work, Colford said, but he and other panelists agreed that libraries would not be well served by the Freegal [music] model, where they simply foot the bill for whatever patrons choose to download.
Reader Comments (9)
We are an ebook publishing house and we know for a fact that
ebooks will continue to grow in readership and use. We
believe that pro-active libraries will understand the
tremendous opportunities ebooks present to the reading
public and utilize great sources like Overdrive to find
terrific stories being published. We have terrific authors
both new and veteran that are excited about this emerging
virtual library. Our job as publishers is to provide quality
books in easy to download and use formats. We are also there
to provide ongoing resources for those seeking to
participate in this rapidly changing marketplace of
literature as we seek to stay abreast of those changes.
Posted by Carolyn, Senior editor, Books to Go Now on May 25, 2011 05:31:55PM
Our local library told me they 'didn't have anyone in that position,' meaning e-book purchases. The local paper will publish stories about self-published authors, as long as they got printed works from a local printer...not ebooks. This prejudice may change, but slowly. This is typical of the schizophrenia currently surrounding the whole issue. A library can have forty or fifty ebooks for the price of one hardcover. In ten years, over ninety percent of all publishing will be digital.
Posted by Louis Shalako on May 25, 2011 07:13:09PM
Librarians Against DRM
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/Librarians-Against-DRM
Posted by don.saklad@gmail.com on May 26, 2011 12:27:28AM
Thank you Robin for your clear vision and well articulated passion!
Posted by Alison Circle on May 26, 2011 09:39:53AM
All I can say, is don't burn your microfilm to recover precious silver. Microfiche lasts 300 years and is future proof. Restrictive format of the week is not.
Posted by James Phillips on May 27, 2011 07:17:14PM
Ebooks are becoming one of the steady components of my reading diet. I've explored a variety of sources. My preference is to download a book to my own computer and then install it onto my Nook. I've also purchased some books from Barnes and Noble. I feel a little nervous. If B&N goes out of business because of the conversion from the bookstore model, where will those books be? At the moment, the books are only virtually mine. They're on my Nook, but can I back them up? They are in my B&N list of purchases, and as long as they're in business, I could get them again if my current Nook died. That assumes I want to read them again, soon.
The ebooks which concern me most, though, are the ones I purchased but have put off reading. In the terrible circumstance that my Nook dies and B&N is out of business, I'll have nothing.
Digital Rights Management (DRM) plays a big part in my problem. As I said, non DRM books I've gotten through Project Gutenberg, etc. are on my computer and backed up from there. I can get to them as long as I'm careful, and as long as conversion from the current ePub version to later ones is addressed. ePub is an open standard, so I'm hopeful.
From what I've read, I'm currently locked out of using my regional library "Overdrive" ebook service. My computer is a Linux computer. Overdrive supports Windows, Macintosh, Android, Blackberry, iPad/iPhone.
For a while, at least, I'll buy some books in paper editions of some titles. I'll even be able to give them to someone after I'm through with them.
Posted by Algot Runeman on May 31, 2011 04:09:44PM
Whilst it is clearly a difficult time for librarians as the traditional role is eroded in a similar fashion to the print publishing and music publishing industries, I think it is important to focus on what is important in the reader/librarian/publisher relationship, rather than what is traditional, and how the relationship is changing.
In the past you could only show your library book to one person at a time. If I borrow a book and my partner is interested she can read it before it is returned or at least decide if she wants to borrow it. Clearly with digital technology I should be able to share it with as many people as I like (and simultaneously), paste snippets to friends to tempt their interest. It is important we embrace what digital can do, not allow publishers to reinvent all the disadvantages of paper because it is in their financial interest, as such most DRM as we know it is a technological dead end, people will vote with their feet and if your library material is not free of these silly DRM systems you'll be irrelevant.
If there is DRM it should serve reader and library interests, why should you pay lending rights on books, which people borrow because they are "worthy" but you know most of them have given up at the end of the first sentence (that isn't just Midnight's Children and Kant's Critique of Pure Reason). A library Ebook should tell you that and get you a discount or refund, as the reader got less value and the costs are the same negligible marginal amount.
Bricks and mortar may be crucial to physical libraries but it is irrelevant to ebooks, indeed it is a hindrance pushing up costs. So look to do things more centrally, share resources, group together to keep costs down. Some people may want to go to the library for access reasons, but all they need is an internet connection (possibly locked down to official library use), most have this already.
When I borrow a book from a library the library doesn't tell the publisher who read it, only how many. Many DRM systems send, or reveal, detailed information about the reader. This sort of activity is wholly inappropriate and potentially illegal in some jurisdictions. Any connectivity from reader directly to the publisher potential breaks anonymity, even if the content is anonymized, the meta-data in the request may include things like the Internet address, revealing what country the user is in, possibly much more detailed information about the customers. We've seen how easily Internet search requests are de-anonymized, you have a duty to prevent this sort of revelation for your readers.
Possibly the librarians have let the horse bolt, in which case they may need unionization to create a collective who is large enough to say to the big publishers - "no that is not acceptable", and dent their profits enough as a result that they pay attention, and catch the eye of politicians.
Note that anyone with an Internet connection already has access to 100,000 free books via project Gutenberg and associated projects. By promoting these titles ahead of works which impose undue restrictions I suspect librarians can meet many readers interests, reduce expenditure, and bring pressure to bear on publishers who are doing a land grab on the rights of library users. 100,000 titles is far larger than the libraries I had ready access to as a child, and presented to readers the right way should rightly lead to greater enlightenment.
I suspect the relationship with copyright may have to change, it may be that after an ebook has been out a year or two, and publishers have made the big sales, that libraries will effectively buy the book outright (this is not necessarily that expensive as all libraries could team up as one to buy books of interest to their users). This may seem radical but it may be what it takes to preserve the proper aspects of library use, although it may mean libraries don't have access to every book in print, but they have limitless copies of the books they do stock.
Posted by Simon on May 31, 2011 08:22:40PM
Libraries *should* be cautious in any conciliatory moves
concerning publishers. Publishers often view libraries as a
threat to their business with each book borrowed considered a
loss of revenue equal to the cover price of the book. Thus
publishers are likely to see it as in their interests to
hamstring libraries as much as they can. Libraries
associations are be better served working with *governments*,
rather than publishers, to regulate publishers, harnessing
them more effectively to the public good.
Posted by Simon Bridge on May 31, 2011 08:42:26PM
I can't wait for Kindle integration. It's good to see library leaders jumping on this issue, digesting it, and articulating strategy.
Posted by Paul Marshall on June 9, 2011 09:26:02AM
