EBooks, the "Big 6" and Libraries

What? You can't read that.

A fellow Kansas librarian posted a link to this Forbes article about ebooks and the friction (or lack of - you'll understand if you read the article) between the so-called Big 6 publishers and libraries.  The author advocates for a different pricing model for libraries than what is currently being offered.  Quite correctly he calls out both the publishers and libraries for wrong-headed notions about how this all should work.

FINALLY!  Someone with a much wider readership agrees with me!  :-)

Honestly, the whole trumped-up fight is hurting the readers and the vast majority of authors who are not what is considered "best seller" authors.  I, for one, embrace the idea of thinking outside the box to find a solution.  The purchase-and-lend model may not be the best process for ebooks.  Maybe it is charge-per-use or maybe it is something entirely different.  Maybe it is a combination of the two, because the ability to publish, host, lend AND sell ebooks is not beyond libraries with easily obtainable technology.  Why couldn't libraries help less well-known authors by publishing their works for them when they can't get contracts with big publishers?  Why couldn't libraries also license bestsellers from the big name authors through their equally big name publishers?

Let's get down to business here, folks.  I've got reading and literacy to promote.