E-books and Libraries
Given the amount of library reading I do, I know that libraries in my area have a long way to go to keep up with the type of reading that I do digitally. It's no problem since I still like print, but there are plenty of books I'd rather carry around digitally. Recently, I actually ended up purchasing a book I had out on Interlibrary Loan (ILL) because I wasn't going to finish it by the due date, in part because the print edition was a little unwieldy (the hardcover did not fit in my purse for convenient reading-on-the-go, and I do try to carry around a hardcover-sized purse). A few years ago I was delighted that several of the books I needed to read for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards jury were available digitally through the library, but lately, I've not had as much luck. Partly I'm not looking as hard, but I'm sure it's also partly because the e-book/library connection is in a state of flux.
Publishers just aren't sure what to do about libraries and e-books, and Amazon seems to have exacerbated the problem. Random House, happily, has committed to continuing to make e-books available to libraries (according to Andrew Albanese of PW). But to do this, it's raising its prices. There was talk at one point of putting restrictions on the number of loans an e-book could go through in order to make the e-book comparable to a hardcover, which eventually does break down after too-many reads. They've moved away from that, which does make the decision a bit of a relief, even if it means higher pricing.
On the bad news front, Penguin has decided to completely sever its relationship with library e-book lending platform OverDrive. According to PW's Calvin Reed, a lot of Penguin's reaction seems to come from concerns about Amazon -- and it looks like they're generally uncomfortable with Penguin books being on the Cloud instead of downloaded. I understand concerns about Amazon, but severing ties with libraries seems to be the opposite of helping manage the e-book marketplace in a way that benefits readers, who are all potential consumers.
Making e-books too controlled, whether it's through too much DRM or by not making them available to certain populations, seems to me to be the wrong way to manage the shifting marketplace. But the flux will eventually settle, and hopefully the end result will be that frequent readers like me will be able to access plenty of e-books to read, whether for purchase or on loan.
Publishers just aren't sure what to do about libraries and e-books, and Amazon seems to have exacerbated the problem. Random House, happily, has committed to continuing to make e-books available to libraries (according to Andrew Albanese of PW). But to do this, it's raising its prices. There was talk at one point of putting restrictions on the number of loans an e-book could go through in order to make the e-book comparable to a hardcover, which eventually does break down after too-many reads. They've moved away from that, which does make the decision a bit of a relief, even if it means higher pricing.
On the bad news front, Penguin has decided to completely sever its relationship with library e-book lending platform OverDrive. According to PW's Calvin Reed, a lot of Penguin's reaction seems to come from concerns about Amazon -- and it looks like they're generally uncomfortable with Penguin books being on the Cloud instead of downloaded. I understand concerns about Amazon, but severing ties with libraries seems to be the opposite of helping manage the e-book marketplace in a way that benefits readers, who are all potential consumers.
Making e-books too controlled, whether it's through too much DRM or by not making them available to certain populations, seems to me to be the wrong way to manage the shifting marketplace. But the flux will eventually settle, and hopefully the end result will be that frequent readers like me will be able to access plenty of e-books to read, whether for purchase or on loan.