eBooks in the Public Library under Fire!

eBooks in the Public Library under Fire!

eBooks in libraries have been a challenge for quite a while. Libraries often can’t afford the licensing fees, or people don’t know they can check them out, or the Overdrive system has issues…there are many barriers to entry.

Now it looks like publishers are putting yet another roadblock in front of public libraries trying to build an ebook following. Apparently, HarperCollins is now requiring libraries to “re-purchase” ebooks after they are downloaded 26 times. So popular books are going to need to be re-upped pretty frequently! This is going to put a serious crimp in the growth of public ebook libraries since paper books can potentially hang around for longer than 26 borrows, not to mention the fact that multiple copies can be in circulation (vs one license per 26 reads on an ebook).

It’s exactly as greedy and nasty of a move as it sounds. Straight from Overdrive library system’s memo:

To provide you with the best options, we have been required to accept and accommodate new terms for eBook lending as established by certain publishers. Next week, OverDrive will communicate a licensing change from a publisher that, while still operating under the one-copy/one-user model, will include a checkout limit for each eBook licensed. Under this publisher’s requirement, for every new eBook licensed, the library (and the OverDrive platform) will make the eBook available to one customer at a time until the total number of permitted checkouts is reached. This eBook lending condition will be required of all eBook vendors or distributors offering this publisher’s titles for library lending (not just OverDrive).

This almost makes the agency pricing model look warm and fuzzy! It’s very sad to see publishing making this kind of move against libraries, and hopefully, others don’t follow HarperCollins misguided lead. Personally, I’ve been frustrated with libraries and ebooks due to the thin content, but it’s an option that is on my radar. I keep hoping my county library system will improve, but it certainly won’t if this is what they are up against!

Via eBooknewser

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About the Author

Zek
Zek has been a gadget fiend for a long time, going back to their first PDA (a Palm M100). They quickly went from researching what PDA to buy to following tech news closely and keeping up with the latest and greatest stuff. They love writing about ebooks because they combine their two favorite activities; reading anything and everything, and talking about fun new tech toys. What could be better?

8 Comments on "eBooks in the Public Library under Fire!"

  1. Of course you have to buy new ones after 26 borrows – the eBooks wear out, right?

    What a ridiculous attempt to model real-world analog conditions (I am sure that somebody somewhere determined that the average library book is replaced after 26 borrows or something) to a digital counterpart. Sort of like making a digital watch that runs on a battery that you still need to wind every day.

    Ok, I just followed the links, and it turns out that this is the exact reason: Harper Collins did some sort of study of physical books. See http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/889452-264/harpercollins_caps_loans_on_ebook.html.csp

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  7. Man, publishers are really setting themselves up for a *big* fall. And they wonder why people pirate.

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