An e-book response

In Thursday's (1/20/11) Hutchinson News, there was an article by AP writer Peter Svensson regarding libraries and e-books.  I felt the need to respond because there appeared to me to be a need for some clarification.

The article starts with a comment about how libraries have been lending e-books longer than there has been a Kindle.  That's a definite understatement!  In fact, there's even an article in the August 1, 2000 Hutchinson News about Random House (the publisher) starting an e-only imprint.  More to the point though, Mr. Svensson's article might have been a non-starter if he hadn't used so many modifiers and adjectives to make the tone SOOOOO dramatic.  Numerous statements include phrases like, "...I'm sad to report..." or "Once you've figured out the system and are lucky enough to find a book..."  He makes a big deal about how many onerous-sounding steps there are (3) to borrow an e-book from the library vs. buying one.  In fact, step #1 is that to borrow an e-book from the library, you need (cue drum roll) - a library card!

However, while I might poke fun at the histrionics, I agree with Mr. Svensson more than I disagree regarding the actual borrowing process.  His "step #2" (which should really be #1 - you already have a library card, right?  :-) ) is a pet peeve of mine.  Step #2 involves interacting with a service called OverDrive, to which the Hutchinson Public Library and the State Library both subscribe.  This service, along with e-book publishers have created what I think is an overly-difficult borrowing process.  You have to download their software and then get an Adobe ID (Mr. Svensson's step #3).  These two steps can be daunting and the instructions are somewhat lengthy, albeit step-by-step.  And if you have an Apple product such as an iPhone or an iPad, you have to add in the process of getting OverDrive to work with iTunes.  In OverDrive's defense, once those steps are done, you never have to do it again and can borrow books at your leisure.

Mr. Svensson laments having to wait on a "hold" list for popular titles, but anyone who has ever used a library knows that that can happen - it's not news.  And of course you have always been able to buy your own copy, no matter the format, if you just can't wait until your turn to borrow comes up.  My last criticism is simply that I think Mr. Svensson expects library collections to have morphed into digital formats over night.  Another of his laments is the relatively small selection of titles most libraries have.  This is true - mostly because as formats have changed once again, libraries can shift only so many $$$ toward that format per year.  Considering the real (most recent) blossoming of e-books has come in the last year to 18 months, it is not surprising that most libraries have relatively few e-books - so far.

I wanted to point out something Mr. Svensson doesn't discuss and that I think is far more significant: Libraries pay an "access fee" (in our case quarterly) to get to their own collections.  I understand that a company has to make a profit.  But the dirty little secret is, in my opinion, should we ever decide to cease our association with OverDrive, we lose access to the entire collection.  In other words, OverDrive has figured out a way to turn audiobook and e-book "purchases" into "licenses".  This to me is the most serious issue that needs to be addressed regarding e-books and libraries.  The first issue makes a minor gripe of the fact that OverDrive also doesn't make it easy to expand your collection quickly.  We often pay what is essentially the "paper" price for a title, not the $9.95 or $12.95 one pays for Kindle-format, non-lend-able e-books.

The best way to address that problem is for the users of the service to make their voices heard.  Libraries have long been bastions of many things, among them; freedom of speech, access to information for all, and responsible treatment of intellectual property.   Most importantly, libraries are often the first place an author finds exposure and a wider audience (read: more sales).