Ebook Sellers Told Library Model Is Needed

On May 26, the same day during BookExpo America (BEA) that a representative of Google explained that the new cloud-based Google Editions ebook marketplace makes no provisions for libraries as customers, librarians in California and Florida sent an open letter to ebook creators and sellers asking them to ensure that a library model be established. For example, they noted, libraries spend $2 billion a year on books and can help develop readers as customers.

“When users find e-books in library catalogs or on websites, they can borrow them and may have the option to rent or buy them,” they wrote. But libraries need publishers “to sell or license them to us in a manner that works with our business model,” including electronic checkout similar to the hard-copy lending model, offering popular titles at reasonable prices, allowing consortial purchasing, and providing ebooks “in standard format with standard digital rights management” (DRM).

“Publishers who only deal with individual users may be giving up a significant revenue stream and may be harming future sales by not supporting a public institution that provides them with a large installed customer base,” noted author, librarian, and LJ Academic Newswire columnist Barbara Fister (pictured).

“All they need to do is agree on standards that allow for books to be downloaded onto any device of the reader’s choosing (if they wish, with DRM, and that can only be downloaded to one device for a limited period, ensuring that it circulates just like a printed book, one reader at a time), and they will sell a lot of ebooks to libraries,” she added. “This isn’t a business model problem, it’s a problem of lack of imagination, lack of unity among different publishers, and lack of agreement about technical specifications.”