"Taxes are Evil"

I apologize in advance for the wall of text. I assure you though, that this is important.

The chickens are coming home to roost in Kansas. What enjoyed great popularity some 30-odd years ago, "Reaganomics" or "Supply-side Economics" is seeing something more than a resurgence in Kansas. Really, it's a doubling down on an idea that has demonstrably failed to do what its proponents claimed. In fact, it didn't work very well when Herbert Hoover tried it in 1932 in response to the Great Depression with his Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Whatever you want to call it, this theory of economics, coupled with a now ingrained mantra that taxes are evil have led Kansas to where it is today. For all intents and purposes, the state is bankrupt. The old way of doing things, a balanced, moderate, common-sense mix of property, income, and sales tax has been cast to the wind.

In its place we have no income tax for a certain group of "job creators", a movement to limit property taxes, and a rise in sales tax. Maybe the old system wasn't always fair. Maybe from time to time some taxes were disproportionately high. But now, the no income tax group who are supposed to now be generating more jobs aren't doing so; the loss of revenue is forcing local governments to look at increasing property taxes; while the high sales taxes are punishing the working class and causing Kansans to even cross state lines to buy basic goods like groceries!

Kansas is in a downward spiral because "taxes are evil". We want a business-friendly environment to make Kansas an attractive place to start or relocate a business and increase employment. But that will never happen in a place that can't govern itself properly. This legislator gets it. No one wants to pay taxes. But grown-ups understand that in order to have good safe roads to carry individual AND business traffic, you have to pay for them. Grown-ups also understand that if you are moving your business someplace, that business will be looking for an educated, motivated workforce and guess what - you have to pay for that by funding public education. Grown-ups also understand that while taxes are unpleasant, the rewards of properly funded, prudently managed public services make everyone's lives better. It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, I would wager few want to pave their own potholes, fix their own water mains, all the while home-schooling their children, having to buy all the books and database access they need for that, and simultaneously hoping no one in the family gets sick and has to travel across counties to go to a hospital.

Yes, taxes are a boor. Taxes suck. But taxes are not evil. Not in a modern society that cares for the common good. Just as an example, I gladly pay taxes for public schools. Yes, I have school-age children. But I pay them for the other families and children as well. I don't want to live in a society of illiterate, low-skilled citizens. Lack of education leads to lack of opportunity which in turn leads to higher rates of incarceration.

Let's get back to the the days where fiscal conservatives, social reformers, moderate what-evers, social conservatives, the left and the right or whatever you label yourself agreed to disagree, but worked together for the common good. I don't understand why everyone seems to think that success is winning EVERYTHING. Success is getting on with it. Shutting the hell up (ironic, right :-) ) when you are being non-productive, stopping and listening to the other side, and finding common ground to advance the common good.

All this to say:

I hope my colleagues who drove to the State Capitol on Monday were successful in explaining to our legislators on the Committee on Taxation that their bill to defund regional library systems in Kansas is a dumb, shoot-yourself-in-the-foot idea. Thank you fellow librarians for your action.

We've been "MacMillan'd"!

Maybe that's not the catchiest phrase, but public libraries have been graced with the possibility of "buying" and circulating ebooks from one of the Big 6! This should be great news, right? It is not terrible news, but it fits in the grand scheme of things at about the "meh" level.

First, it is a pilot project. Second, the titles are from the backlist of MacMillan's Minotaur imprint which publishes mainly crime/mystery fiction. Third, the titles will cost libraries $25 each and have a "shelf life" of 52 circs or two years, which ever comes first.

In other words, we get to circulate to you, our patrons, old titles you may already have read and unlike old PAPER titles you may already have read, they won't languish on our virtual shelves - they'll automatically weed themselves in two years!

Maybe I should be more worried, sooner rather than later human librarians will be obsolete.  We are being replaced by publishers who are cutting out the middle man.  Don't worry though, the business men will look out for culture and history.  They'll make it all available to the individual, I'm sure...for a low recurring monthly payment.

Ebooks - It's been a while since I griped

We have been working very hard at HPL on physical projects involving real shelves, books, and other stuff outside the Internet world.  I know!  Shocking, isn't it?

<rant>During that time I have been watching the "Big 6" publishers continue to treat libraries as their enemies in the ebook world.  And while I am sure that no one pays much attention to my little blog, let alone my rants, I feel remiss for not railing on a daily basis about this ridiculous state of affairs.

Honestly, where does Simon & Schuster think avid readers find out about new authors?  Where does Penguin or Hatchette think new authors get a try and then a following?  Who do they think spends 24/7 thinking of ways to get more people involved in more reading?  And I mean thinking of more ways to get EVERYBODY reading, regardless of means.  I love book stores.  Book stores do some of this.  But they have to stay alive by selling the most popular.  Who helps them with that?  They promote books and authors.  LIBRARIES promote reading and readers.  Apparently though, we're the enemy.  We're going to suck away the meager revenue stream from the big publishers.  Honestly, if that's what they believe, then they are the enemy of readers.

Ebooks "last forever", so how can we make libraries ever buy another copy?  Library patrons will just borrow the library copy whenever they want to read.  Hmm...why not ask us to work out a plan?  No?  You'd rather just turn books into licensed content and sell it and choke off any potential for growth?

Here's the crux of the problem (besides the lure of filthy lucre).  From ALA:

Why are e-books treated differently than print books?

As content migrates from physical to digital forms, the typical access model shifts from
purchasing to licensing. Digital music and online journals represent examples of this shift from the last few decades; e-books represent the latest form of content to make this transition. As licenses are contracts, libraries receive the rights articulated in the agreements. The usual ebook license with a publisher or distributor often constrains or altogether prohibits libraries from archiving and preserving content, making accommodations for people with disabilities, ensuring patron privacy, receiving donations of e-books, and selling e-books that libraries do not wish to retain.

They key is in that paragraph.  Control over the content (contract vs. purchase); the "purchaser" - you, me, a library, no longer "owns" that thing we thought we bought.  Thus, no one can loan it, resell it, or collect it.  But why is that ownership so important?  Collections like those created by libraries are important not just for preserving the past but for creating new ideas and inspiring new stories.  Writers and researchers create from what is available to them.

Too bad the big publishers won't work out a deal.  Libraries want to participate and are willing to pay to play.  Too bad they are so focused on preserving a possibly already-lost corner on the market.  That old chestnut about catching more flies with honey than vinegar is going to come back and bite them.  Libraries could help them flourish in the ebook age and I'd wager we as a group would strike a bargain on almost every issue in that quote above.  Will it happen?  I doubt it.  And everyone - you, me, authors, publishers, and libraries will be the poorer for it. </rant>

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.

More eBook Nonsense!

WARNING:  Long, but extremely IMPORTANT!

[EDITED 2/12/12]
Sometimes I get frustrated with people.  Usually, it is because communication hasn't worked properly and has created a misunderstanding.  Sometimes though, it is because communication has been completely disregarded and subsequent faulty reasoning has led to a poor decision.  Now, whether or not that faulty reasoning has been mine or the other party's...let's just say I'm willing to discuss it.  The same can't be said of the 5 publishers listed at the end of this post.

Sometimes when trying to communicate, I must assume that the other party has completely gone off the rails and is just flat wrong.  Case in point:  Penguin ends eBook sales to libraries.  This news means that 5 out of the 6 "big" publishers have chosen to not sell eBooks to libraries.  Random House is the sole remaining "big" publisher still selling eBooks to libraries (thank you Random House!)

Those other publishers, rather than work out a solution, have chosen to walk away.  They want you, the reader, to only have the option to buy an ebook, never to borrow.  This despite decades of hard work by librarians, promoting authors and books for these big publishers.  Librarians want people to read.  We relish helping to discover new, great authors and sharing them with our patrons.  Librarians want more books to be published and more writers to succeed.  Librarians want publishers and publishing to grow.  These big publishers, apparently, want only our money.  And by "our" money, I mean ours individually.  They don't seem to care about choking off a source of free promotion and business that (although they dismiss it as inconsequential) has benefited them for years.

Here's the harsh truth:  Just as it disadvantages individuals, a lack of access to a popular format, a format that may reign supreme in the coming years, will kill libraries.  It will kill them utterly because while a new format changes habits and usage patterns, complete lack of access to that format will bring us even further along the road to a society of "haves" and "have nots".  Public libraries have always acted as a great leveler - providing resources to those who cannot afford them.  Public libraries work hard to create readers: Life-long readers. Voracious readers.  And we don't especially care if they buy books, borrow them, or both.  HPL's children's outreach brings books and story times to 600+ pre-schoolers per month with this single goal in mind.  That's 600+ potential book buyers WE are creating for you, MacMillan Publishing (and you other ingrate publishers).

Lack of access will also kill one of the other main reasons libraries exist - to accumulate and make available the totality of human knowledge.  Eh, so what, right?

Librarians are not unreasonable people.  We will negotiate terms, conditions, restrictions, whatever.  But we can't negotiate when the other party is acting in a childish fashion and simply takes their toys and goes home.

If this situation makes you mad, here's a list of contacts to which you can express your anger.  I will be contacting them myself and I hope you will too.

Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
646-307-5151

customerservice@mpsvirginia.com

SIMON & SCHUSTER, INC.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
PHONE: 212-698-7000

http://www.simonandschuster.com/about/contact_us

Penguin Group

375 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

Phone: 212-366-2000

ecommerce@us.penguingroup.com

Hatchette Book Group

466 Lexington Avenue #131

New York, NY 10017

Phone: 212-364-1100

http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/customer_contact-us.aspx

Brilliance Audio, Inc., 

1704 Eaton Drive

Grand Haven, Michigan 49417

Phone: 616-846-5256

consumerhelp@brillianceaudio.com 

[EDIT]  Here is a considerably more measured blog post on the Penguin / eBook topic, but one that also points out many of the very real, but bordering on whiny, problems of librarianship these days.