Comments on: How Not to Get Libraries to Lend Ebooks (A Publisher’s Tale)

By: The Publisher of Tolkien Has Taken a Business Lesson from Sauron | The Digital Reader

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 20:23:21 +0000

[...] P.S. I’ve written about something like this before; it was happening in the UK. [...]

By: The Publisher of Tolkien Has Taken a Business Lesson from Sauron « Agnostic, Maybe

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:17:40 +0000

[...] P.S. I’ve written about something like this before; it was happening in the UK. [...]

By: Are you ready for an E-Reader?

Are you ready for an E-Reader? — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:55:46 +0000

[...] about e-books in libraries? These two articles represent very different approaches by publishers. How Not to Get Libraries to Lend Ebooks discusses the Publishers Association’s intentions to restrict library e-book lending. On the [...]

By: That Publisher Post & More Questions « Agnostic, Maybe

That Publisher Post & More Questions « Agnostic, Maybe — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 03:49:02 +0000

[...] the comments of my post, “How Not to Get Libraries to Lend Ebooks (A Publisher’s Tale)”, the highly esteemed Liz Burns wanted me to clarify something I said regarding “jacked up” [...]

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 03:01:19 +0000

As per our twitter backchannel discussion, I’m going to spin this out into a post.

For the record, I’m talking about print books, not library edition audio. The latter is higher because you are buying into a service that will replace discs. It is a premium that makes sense to me, for certain.

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 02:59:23 +0000

I like your suggestion, Liz, since it addresses one of the fundamental issues that I think influences the overall library discourse: how local each library actually is and what that means for the services and materials offered. In my estimation when it comes to discussing library issues, people seem to confuse “what won’t work” with “what won’t work at my library”: these are not mutually exclusive concepts.

That sounds like something I can steal for a post in the future. =D

By: Liz B

Liz B — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:31:52 +0000

Their are multiple sides to this issue just as their are multiple ways that people interact with libraries.

For me? Yes, I’m a librarian…but I don’t use my public library because of the inconvenience & what isn’t available, and won’t pay for my county library because I’m trying to put off that expense as long as possible, what with other bills that need to get paid.

Radically speaking: I think we need to examine what is best provided on a national level for library service versus what is best provided on a local level. What area of expertise/ access to information, education, entertainment is needed across the board? What is best done locally?

By: Liz B

Liz B — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:09:58 +0000

Andy, to be honest, it’s my understanding that there is a slim profit margin for most books. Also, I’m a bit puzzled by how much anti-publishers sentiment I’m seeing on some library blogs/tweets. When did they become investment bankers making billions?

Pricing can be more if cost is more, which is why my question is on profit. Better binding for library edition or ability to get free replacement CDs? That’s going to cost more than other books.

By: Erik

Erik — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 03:06:20 +0000

From the article and wide response I have to agree with what is the UK thinking. One item though I wonder about and nobody has said, how does this apply to academic material? nonfiction reference materials used for research. Here in the US many of the aggregators have hosted solutions with multiple simultaneous users. As long as a patron can access the web, from anywhere pretty much, they can login to their bookshelf in some cases and access the content available, take notes and a variety of other tasks.

This seems to heavily focus on the fiction market, if they try to apply to nonfiction reference material, hold tight, it won’t be pretty. I think everyone has to look at eBooks differently though when it comes to lending. We have to look at it in a different sense then print and think that is causing some of the issues. Nobody has the perfect answer, but what will be interesting is to see how this translates to the US market, specifically in the fiction world.

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 03:06:03 +0000

As I am not in a position of ordering materials (with an exception every now and again), my source is more anecdotal in that I heard about it from other people who are in such a position, what I have seen from invoices that are shown to me, or what I have read in various blogs over the last couple of years. It is certainly is not a survey of all pricing, and I’ll admit that my statement is based more in the emotion of the moment. But I don’t believe that makes it completely untrue (and I look forward to being proven otherwise).

My concern is less than with an “acceptable” profit margin of publishers and more of a concern about what value the libraries are getting for their money. As I suggested in the post, I’d like for publishers to start considering bundling ebook rights with their books (library edition or not); they could charge an additional premium on top of the physical book cost. I think it would be a win for the publisher, the library, and the patron. For certain, it would be an additional source of revenue that could be directly recouped for the publisher.