Open eBooks Launched

Wednesday, February 24th saw the launch of the Open eBooks program. Aimed at helping the neediest students in the country, this initiative promises to bridge the digital content divide. Teachers and others who offer programs for the economically disadvantaged, special education or disabled children can get codes to distribute. Children with codes can  access some 10,000 titles for free on smartphones and tablets.

Launching the initiative, First Lady Michelle Obama said “For so many of us, books opened our minds to a world of possibility. Unfortunately, right now, millions of children in America don’t have that chance because they don’t have adequate access to the books they need to learn and dream. The new Open eBooks app will change that.”

While they may have to think of novel ways to get reading devices to the children, librarians may be able to make use of this program. If program participants are 70% or over in one of the groups served, they can be provided access. My library has programs and partnerships with Head Start and Judy Center (it's a Maryland thing) kids, and we are alerting our partners and looking at providing tablets to give access.  This program is part of the ConnectED initiative, and any library that has taken the ConnectED Challenge might make plans to help.

ReadersFirst thanks the Open eBooks founding partners:  Digital Public Library of America, The New York Public Library, First Book, digital books distributor Baker & Taylor (on whose platform the app is based), and financial supporters the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.  Also worthy of thanks are the publishers who have donated content:

• Bloomsbury: Providing unlimited access to over 1,000 of its most popular titles.
• Candlewick: Providing unlimited access to all relevant children’s and young-adult eBook titles in their catalog.
• Cricket Media: Offering full digital access to all of its market-leading magazines for children and young adults, including Ladybug and Cricket.
• Hachette: Offering access to a robust catalog of their popular and award-winning titles.
• HarperCollins: Providing a vast selection of their award-winning and popular titles.
• Lee & Low: Providing unlimited access to over 700 titles from this leading independent publisher of multicultural books.
• Macmillan: Providing unlimited access to all of the K-12 age-appropriate titles in their catalog of approximately 2,500 books.
• National Geographic: Providing unlimited access to all of their age-appropriate content.
• Penguin Random House: Committing to provide an extensive offering of their popular and award-winning books.
• Simon & Schuster: Providing access to their entire e-catalog of books for children ages 4-14, comprised of 3,000 titles.

We can't think of a better gift than the gift of reading.  Let's hope this initiative will be a step in publishers, content providers, and libraries  working together more closely to improve existing library eBook models. That thanks (and wish being) given, what are your thoughts on this initiative?  I hope you share the news, and comment to us!

Michael Blackwell, Director, St Mary's County Library

LJ's Materials Survey 2016

LJ has presented their “Materials Survey 2016.” The online version is not yet available, so look to your February 15 print copy for now.

Entitled “Trend Turnaround” and written by Barbara Hoffert, the survey says “ebook and media budgets have stalled as a percentage of the materials mix”:

Compared to last year, print circulation rose two notices to average 60 percent of total circulation, while ebook circulation remained stuck at five percent overall. Certainly, many library ebook collections are growing. . . . But this year’s figures echo the recent stutter in ebook market, which saw sales fall even as independent bookstores resurged.

ReadersFirst celebrates all reading and is delighted if print book circulation rises. We are pleased, too, that the article cites librarians’ concerns about why eBook use isn’t growing as fast as it once did. Says Prudence Fallon of Tiverton Public Library, “There are still problems with consistency of format, ease, the ability to download ebooks, and the charging of ebook reader devices. Until all ebooks and ereaders perform consistently and the same way across all formats and devices, users will become frustrated and reach for ‘old reliable,’ the book.”

 Notes Mary Wallace Moore of Smyrna Public Library, The cost of purchasing an ebook is still way too high, so I cannot provide in depth of selection. . . that I can in print.” Adds Nick Szegda of Menlo Park Library, “The difficulties in dealing with DRM software to get your ‘free” library eBook make it less attractive than it could be.  Also an issue: “restricted ‘copies’ of an ebook must be purchased.  Can’t we go to a per download model?”

 Great question! I haven’t checked to see if these libraries are ReadersFirst members; however, if not, Prudence, Mary, and Nick, come join us!  You are making points we support. There is still MUCH work to be done in simplifying and streamlining eBook reading, in moving discovery into our PACs and away from vendor sites and apps, and in working out a fair business model that takes realizes ebook advantages of 24/7 anywhere accessibility.  Aren’t we letting down our readers if we don’t challenge the status quo? A library ebook stutter? If we build the right model, they will come. And read. Once more unto the breach!      

Queens Virtual Library System

ReadersFirst has advocated for a better experience for library users in accessing all of a library’s offerings, including physical materials, eBooks and digital audiobooks, databases, programs, and more. Queens Library, a member of ReadersFirst, has developed a Virtual Library System that takes into account ReadersFirst principles and provides users with as close to a one-stop experience as we’ve seen. In 2012, Queens Library received 5,000 Google tablets after Hurricane Sandy damaged much of the library’s service area. The library developed an interface and discovery layer for the tablets that allowed library customers to access library programs and services from home. After developing the interface for the tablets, Queens Library set out to develop an app that could be used by all library customers to access the library’s programs and services on their own devices.

Currently, the app provides a more seamless process for checking out digital content. Library customers log in and are able to search all of the library’s digital offerings at once. Checkout happens without changing platforms. If the user already has the appropriate app (Blio, OverDrive, Zinio, etc.) installed, that app can be opened directly from the Virtual Library to read the content. Although the library catalog itself is not the platform for digital checkouts at this time (catalog search is also available through the app, but checkout of digital content is not available through that interface), the single search and checkout for digital content is certainly a step forward and one for which Queens Library is to be commended. 

Queens Library is working to further develop the Virtual Library System, and is engaged in conversations with vendors and NISO to develop mobile application intents and API specifications that could allow even more content to be distributed through a single platform.

For more information about the Queens Virtual Library System, including the feature set and timeline, visit http://virtuallibrary.queenslibrary.org/  

Sara Stephenson, St. Mary's County Library

A Small Opening for a New Business Model?

AT ALA Midwinter, Carolyn Anthony (Dir, Skokie Public Library), co-chair of ALA's Digital Content Working Group (DCWG), shared news that in DCWG's recent talks with three of the "Big 5" publishers,  the idea of a limited simultaneous access model was broached. For a short period of time, and on a limited important topic such as public health (i.e. Diabetes or Heart Health Awareness), might a suite of non-fiction library eBooks be made available to all who wished to access them without the waiting queue that can make library eBooks cumbersome to access? And for the first time ever (at least for more than a single and usually not well-known title), the publishers did NOT say "no."

Carolyn emphasizes caution. The publishers did not say "yes," either. They asked, however, how the model might work and seemed open to talking.

While hardly a breakthrough moment, then, this conversation is significant.  Perhaps it is a first step towards developing a business model (subscription? pay-per-use?) that will allow for simultaneous access to high-demand titles by library eBook readers. We thank DCWG for their careful and thoughtful advocacy. Their diplomatic approach is slowly reaping benefits. ReadersFirst has long advocated a business model that would eliminate eBook reserve queues. We welcome any developments that would move greater access forward and hope publishers will continue to come to the table with open minds.

Thanks for the news, Carolyn!

Michael Blackwell, St Mary's County Library, for RF

What do you think? Is a per-per-use or subscription model ever going to viable or even desirable? Is anything likely to come from this sort of approach to the publishers?  Please share! 

Survey Results: Is Library eBook Use Growing?

Thanks to all who responded to our post last week asking about growth in eBook usage in your libraries. The eleven libraries represented saw a 30% increase in the circulation of e-materials from 2014 to 2015, an even higher percentage than OverDrive’s 24% overall increase. Although this was an unscientific study with a very small sample size, the results show that, at least for some of our libraries, library ebook adoption among our customers is increasing. Growing collections, catalog integration, and improved ease of use are likely contributors to the increase. Additional advancements like those advocated for by ReadersFirst, including library card signup and catalog integration of all e-content, and continued improvements to ebook licensing terms could further library ebook adoption in the future.

Sara Stephenson, St. Mary's County Library

OverDrive uses Library Card as a Default

Last Year, ReadersFirst called for the library card to be a possiblity for readers creating vendor accounts to access eBooks. At the Overdrive booth at ALA Midwiner, Head of Product Development Ryan from OD demoed their new platform, and the library card signup is not only an option but the default. We don't usually mention particular vendors on our site (outside of our guide to library eBook vendors), but RF would like to thank OverDrive for being responsive and taking another small step in making thier sitre more library user friendly and in accord with RF principles. Thanks, Ryan! More news from ALA Midwinter to follow! 

Is Library eBook Use Growing?

Our friends at The Digital Reader have responded to an OverDrive Press Release citing record library eBook and eAudiobook circulation in 2015, with the former up 19% over 2014 (to 125 million) and the latter up 36% (to 43 million).

The Digital Reader then throws cold water on OverDrive's numbers, suggesting "the stats represent OverDrive doing more business more than an increase in library ebook adoption among patrons."  EBook adoption, DR avers, "remains either low or disappointingly low," citing surveys from BISG and Pew.

Time for very scientific, definitive study to settle the question, "Is library eBook use growing?" To contribute to this monumental piece of scholarship and trend tracking, you need only respond with your library's use of eBooks in 2015 compared to 2014. Did use grow, remain flat, or even shrink? Let us know! Thanks for playing.

MIchael Blackwell, St Mary's County Library

American Libraries: What's In Store for eBooks

American Libraries has interviewed four experts in the eBook area, speculating on the future of eBooks (and print) in retail and in libraries:  Andrew Albanese, James LaRue, Michael Shatzkin, and Maja Thomas.

We at RF would have liked to see somebody from DPLA, ALA's DCWG, Library Simplified--or perhaps RF itself :-) --included on the panel. Someone active in libraries today, with a stake in the game, would have been a good addition. Still, the article is wide-ranging, thoughtful, and well worth a look. Covering the potential and problems raised by Indie publishing, the importance of libraries in the market, and the need for innovation, the panelists hit on vital points:  http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/01/04/whats-store-ebooks/

RF wishes to thank Mr. Albanese for these words:  

"It would be a mistake to accept the current restrictions on library eBook lending as the way things have to be. For example, I don’t see any reason why a library should not be able to buy ebooks like they buy print books, and at the same prices. To me, there is virtually no difference between a print book and a copy of a digital book that is locked down and can be read by only one user at a time. And I have yet to hear a compelling argument otherwise."

"Amazon and Netflix are redefining consumer expectations for accessing digital content, and libraries cannot allow themselves to settle on a plateau of mediocrity. I understand the fear and caution that came with the early days of digital. But publishers and libraries are invested in the same things. Together, they should form a bulwark against companies whose innovation in the short term comes with a price in the long term."

Despite recent gains in access to content, today's library eBook experience is still inadequate to support robust reading. The wait for content, coupled with that same content's inexpensiveness to consumers, provides only the mediocrity Albanese fears. Why wait for a title from the library when it can be had so cheaply, instantly, elsewhere? While carefully choosing titles of local interest by local authors is a laudable goal, will our readers flock to get the latest Indie, library curated eContent? It's time for a change to multiple pricing models on the content most readers want, subscriptions with simultaneous user access for libraries, and a technologically simplified reading experience. In 2016, we hope more libraries will join ReadersFirst in saying so.  You have nothing to lose but your readers.

Michael Blackwell, St Mary's County Library

A Study on Digital Content in Public Libraries

ReadersFirst Members and all pubic librarians will likely be interested in the results of a Joint ALA/Book Industry Study Group,  Digital Content in Public Libraries: What Do Patrons Think?

"The results of this survey are available in an exhaustive, 85-page PDF report, compiled by Jim Milliot of Publishers Weekly, or as an executive summary (free to BISG and ALA members; email info@bisg.org for your discount code)."

Well worth a look.  Check it out!

Penguin Random House's New Price Model . . . is it really good for us?

On December 3rd, Penguin Random House announced January 1 2016 implementation of perpetual access for library eBook titles: Publisher’s Weekly notes “Currently, Penguin e-books are licensed to libraries with a one-year expiration date, and priced close to consumer prices. Going forward, all Penguin Random House e-books will be sold under the same perpetual access license terms—which means no cap on the number of loans—although, with higher prices ranging from just under $20 per title to a newly set maximum of $65. The $65 cap, however, is a reduction from the current Random House cap in the U.S. of $85 per title ($95 in Canada). Penguin Random House sales to libraries will continue to be handled exclusively by library wholesalers” (http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/68838-penguin-random-house-unifies-e-book-terms-for-libraries.html).

ALA President Sari Feldman has responded “Libraries will be pleased that the combined Penguin Random House license will ensure perpetual access to e-titles, and all will be glad the previous ceiling of $85 per title has been reduced,” said ALA President Sari Feldman. “But I also know many of my colleagues will miss the flexibility of paying near-consumer prices for e-copies they may not wish to maintain indefinitely, and some will be unable to afford to provide access to the ebooks their communities seek” (http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/e-content/ala-responds-penguin-random-house-ebook-licensing-announcement/)

ReadersFirst suggests Ms. Feldman is on target but suggests something further. Thanks, Sari, for being a cogent voice for libraries! For SOME titles, perpetual access is nice. But in a library environment in which yesterday’s must-have 50 Shades is today’s must weed, and in which access and not ownership is all that matters, perpetual access isn’t the only consideration. Penguin Random, how about keeping a low cost/limited circ option on ALL your titles PLUS the new option? Offering options isn't too complex for us. We can figure it out. Yes, we’ll pay more for some perpetual access titles, but still keep buying other titles which we may not want perpetually at a more favorable rate.  You’ll make money. Likely you'll even sell more books that readers have tasted through libraries. We’ll give access to more titles at the same budget to our readers. And for us, it’s always Readers First.

Michael Blackwell, St Mary’s County Library, for RF