et tu, Random House?

Random house has announced new ebook pricing for libraries.  I think it's called gouging.  Here's a definition, so let's see if the situation fits:

Price gouging is a pejorative term referring to a situation in which a seller prices goods or commodities much higher than is considered reasonable or fair.

An example given from the March 12, 2012 issue of Library Hotline stated that a purchase of Jean Edward Smith's Eisenhower in War and Peace was made for $40 on February 29th.   On March 1st, that price had tripled to $120.

A Random House spokesperson stated that they felt the pricing was fair considering ebooks don't "wear out" and that new titles are made available to libraries at the same time they are released to consumers.  The question in my mind is, "When were we (librarians) asked about these criteria?"

The answer is that there was no attempt (with which I am familiar) to sit down with librarians and talk through a different model.  We are reasonable people.  We can help publishers and authors.  We help grow readers who in turn become book buyers.  We will, at least at lil' ol' Hutchinson Public Library, agree to a reasonable scheme for maximum number of ebook checkouts per copy before we purchase new copies.

The alternative is to set up our own system for circulating ebooks and negotiating our own contracts with willing publishers and the authors of the MILLIONS of ebooks published outside of the traditional publishing industry.  That seems like a great ecosystem in which public libraries might play the role of publisher as well as outlet for budding authors, local historians, and others who have a story to tell and no way to tell it through the traditional publishing process.  The time for temerity is now - no "best" way has appeared for libraries regarding ebooks.  In order to survive, we must blaze our own trail.