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Library Ebook Lending in the USA
Salon du Livre (Paris Book Fair)Sponsored by the French Ministry of
Culture and CommunicationsMarch 24, 2014
Alan S. InouyeAmerican Library Association
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Agenda
• Why are we here?• Engaging and learning• Challenges and opportunities• The bigger picture: (E)book lending
and the role of libraries• Questions
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A Bit of History
• Origins of the library ebook lending problem in the USA and why it is such a controversy
• U.S. copyright law: For print books, first sale doctrine enables library lending and much more
• Libraries have considerable discretion with print books to use as needed for public purposes
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A Bit of History (2)
• Ebooks are available primarily through licensing arrangements—with many constraints
• Fundamental change in control and operations– Licensing terms / digital rights management– Role of distributors– Public libraries: Public policy is now a
matter of private contracting
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Library Crisis:2011 into 2012
• In wake of HarperCollins decision from spring 2011 – initiation of 26 circulation model
• Simon & Schuster, Macmillan out of library ebook market; Hachette BG offers only backlist
• Penguin pulls back from library ebook market
• Random House imposes big price increase
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ALA Strategy: Engagement
• Many possible avenues to pursue; lots of advice
• Focus energy; ALA has limited resources
• What would have value in the long run?• Conclusion: Direct engagement with
publishers– Later, expanded to publishing ecosystem– Always subject to revision
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Two Plus Years
• ALA leadership visits to NYC: – 8 multi-day trips
• Conferences: ALA, PLA, AAP, BEA, DBW• Communications– Publications– Articles, op-eds, “Open Letter to
Publishers,” media and communications toolkit, Authors for Library Ebooks campaign
– Informal
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Publisher Perspectives
• Start: Sales displacement, friction, security
• Large, complex, multinational organizations
• Libraries 101: Library marketing staff v. digital business staff and general managers–Misconceptions– Fears (library and non-library based)
• Problem: supporting many platforms/models
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Publisher Perspectives (2)
• Publishers often perceived value of ebook higher than print book
• The distributor black box• The megaplayers: Amazon, Apple,
and Google• Local public library just around the
corner for publishers = New York Public Library
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Library Perspectives
• Start: Unfairness, hostility• Publishers are real people• Publishing 101: Didn’t know much
about publishing marketplace, and digital publishing– Even more difficult because of the
rapidly evolving marketplace
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Library Perspectives (2)
• Making the business case v. library needs
• More than publishers: authors, distributors, retailers, and readers
• Libraries far from homogeneous too• More than “libraries” – state
libraries, cooperatives, …
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Big Five Current Status
• HarperCollins• Penguin Random House– Penguin– Random House
• Hachette Book Group• Macmillan• Simon & Schuster
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Some Issues
• Progress in 2013, but…• Pricing• Business models: Too many yet too
few• Remaining restrictions on availability– Frontlist– Pilots– Consortia
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Some Issues (2)
• Facilitating sales: How far should libraries go?
• Library-developed platforms• Intermediary platforms –
transferring to another• Archiving / preservation• Privacy• And more
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Value Proposition of Library Ebook Lending: For Publishers
• Analog to digital: Fundamentally changes the value proposition
• Libraries represent direct sales; especially helpful for the backlist and mid-sized/smaller publishers
• Ebook discovery/exposure via physical buildings– Decline in physical outlets; rise of Amazon;
B&N?– Increasing possibilities of libraries as sales
outlets?• Discovery /exposure: The “growth” area?
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Libraries: Facilitating Ebook Discovery and Exposure
• Analogies from print book world still in play
• Leveraging the digital environment– Library Reads– Illinois Author Project– Orange County (Florida) Shake It app– Gimme (a clue), Scottsdale (Arizona) library– Digital review copies (Edelweiss, Net
Galley)
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The Evolving Library• Library as publisher– Promotes community engagement & (digital)
literacy– Expansion of self-publishing phenomenon
• Reframing: The publishing ecosystem– Implications and possibilities for libraries– And then more than ebooks…– Towards reinventing the future of libraries
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Think Beyond Replicating the Book Model in the Ebook World
ReaderPublisher
Library/
Bookseller
Author(&
Agents)
Distributor
Reader
Publisher
Library/Bookseller
Author(& Agents)
Distributor
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Discussion - QuestionsAlan S. InouyeALA Office for Information Technology PolicyWashington, D.C., USA ainouye@alawash.org202-628-8410
Resources• American Libraries E-Content Blog• American Libraries Supplement on
Digital Content
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