Public Libraries and eBooks – A Match Made in ? Karim Khan Loudoun County Public Library Exceptions to Every Rule: Managing the Ongoing Migration to E-Books and Streaming Media. October 25, 2012, VLA Annual Conference, Williamsburg, VA.

Public Libraries and eBooks Vendor licensing vs. local ownership Acquisition complications Vendor complications Publisher complications eReaders for the public: training and access issues But. People love eBooks. More to read

Vendors vs. Local Ownership Most Public Libraries offer eBooks through licensing relationships with vendors Overdrive (Kindle and EPUB compatible) 3M Cloud Reader (EPUB compatible) Baker & Taylor Axis 360 (Blio compatible) Freading (EPUB compatible) Douglas County Public Library (CO) has pioneered a model of server-based PL ownership of eBooks by the actual library. They are now partnered with automation vendor Bibliotheca to commercialize. Some libraries lend eReaders with library-owned titles pre- loaded. Barnes & Noble supports this model.

Acquisition complications Different paradigms Selection by library staff – expensive and saves little of a selector’s time Bagful of books – more useful for focused content Token system – turns some of your acquisitions budget over to the end user Some vendors’ content is limited to their negotiated publisher partners Much important content is simply not available in eBook format through library vendors As with all licensed resources, there’s little to stop a vendor from price hikes

Vendor Complications Overdrive remains the only vendor who can supply material to PL’s in Kindle format Libraries have little control over search interface and field searching options For each vendor, a different app, and different search interface No effective means of weeding out-of-date purchases/titles yet identified Frequent upgrades to sites and services can result in user confusion

Publisher complications Publishers aren’t in love with the whole idea 4 of six “Big Six” publishers don’t sell their content to PL vendors at all HarperCollins considers 26 checkouts the life of a purchase; if you still want it, buy another license for 26 more checkouts Random House may charge as much as 300% over eBook list price when you purchase an eBook for your Overdrive bookshelf Penguin pulled all their titles from Overdrive Some restrict whether items can be downloaded wirelessly to a device or whether a pc must be used Smaller publishers are much more likely to partner with vendors – but PL’s need those bestsellers

But. People love eBooks In FY 13, downloadable eBook use in Loudoun County will be nearly 10 times the total for FY 11 Use of non-downloadable eBooks is steady to fading New eReader users need help every day Some users expect all the library’s holdings to be downloadable Use of eReaders cuts across demographic groups

More to Read Albanese, Andrew, “Going Public: Frustrated librarians begin taking their e-book case to the masses.” Publishers Weekly Online, Sep 24, topic/digital/copyright/article/54069-going-public.html topic/digital/copyright/article/54069-going-public.html Chain, Sarah, “Kaltreider-Benfer tries Kindle lending service.” BookBuzz, July 14, er-benfer-tries-kindle-lending-service/ er-benfer-tries-kindle-lending-service/ “The Ebook Bait and Switch.,” Library Journal Online, August /08/the-ebook-bait-and-switch/ 08/08/the-ebook-bait-and-switch/ Feldman, Len, “Bibliotheca to export Douglas County, Colorado library eBook model worldwide.” The Feldman File, June 19, to-export-douglas-county.html to-export-douglas-county.html Hoffelder, Nate, “Mexico City Launches New eBook Portal Project at Metro Stations.” The Digital Reader, October 12, reader.com/2012/10/12/mexico-city-launches-new- ebook-portal-project-at-metro-stations/ reader.com/2012/10/12/mexico-city-launches-new- ebook-portal-project-at-metro-stations/ Hoffelder, Nate, “Random House Raises Library eBooks Through the Roof.” The Digital Reader, March 2, reader.com/2012/03/02/random-house-raises-library- ebooks-through-the-roof// reader.com/2012/03/02/random-house-raises-library- ebooks-through-the-roof/ Hoffelder, Nate, “There’s a Library eReader Vendor Who Should be at PLA 2012, But Isn’t – B&N.” The Digital Reader, March 15, digital-reader.com/2012/03/15/theres-a-library- ereader-vendor-who-should-be-here-but-isnt-bn/ digital-reader.com/2012/03/15/theres-a-library- ereader-vendor-who-should-be-here-but-isnt-bn/ Hogan, Patrick, “Douglas County Libraries' DIY E-Book Hosting.” ALA Techsource, March 13, county-libraries-diy-e-book-hosting.html county-libraries-diy-e-book-hosting.html LaRue, Jamie. An open letter about eBooks and Douglas County Libraries. Douglas County Libraries, Castle Rock, Colorado: and-DCL and-DCL Kelley, Michael, “Penguin Group Terminating Its Contract with OverDrive.” Library Journal, The Digital Shift, February 9, uin-group-terminating-its-contract-with-overdrive/ uin-group-terminating-its-contract-with-overdrive/ Price, Gary, “OverDrive Releases Updated Media Console App for iOS, App For Kindle Fire Also Available.” Library Journal InfoDocket, October 12, releases-updated-media-console-app-also-releases- app-for-kindle-fire/ releases-updated-media-console-app-also-releases- app-for-kindle-fire/ Rothman, David, “All-text bold, multiple columns, other capabilities enhance OverDrive’s upgraded library app for iPads, iPhones and Touches.” The Digital Reader, October 16, digital-reader.com/2012/10/16/all-text-bold-multiple- columns-other-capabilities-enhance-overdrives- upgraded-library-app-for-ipads-iphones-and-touches/ digital-reader.com/2012/10/16/all-text-bold-multiple- columns-other-capabilities-enhance-overdrives- upgraded-library-app-for-ipads-iphones-and-touches/ Rothman, David, “New easy-to-use iOS app works with library-owned e-books and eliminates need for browser-based downloads.” LibraryCity, October 8,