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