Library Futures Launches

Library Futures, a new non-profit, has launched, championing “the right to equitable access to knowledge” and seeking “to empower libraries to take control of their digital futures.” {Disclosure: the ReadersFirst Working Group is listed as a supporting organization on their website.]

Here is a press release dated 1/25/2021:

Library Futures Institute, a new 501(c)(3) that will empower libraries to take control of their digital futures and fight for the right to equitable access to knowledge, launched this week with a social media campaign celebrating a technology-positive vision for libraries.

Focused on six core principles that champion the rights of libraries to lend materials in a digital environment, Library Futures will enable libraries to fulfill their mission, providing non-discriminatory open access to culture for the public good. Through advocacy, grant making, education, and community, the organization will respond to 21st century needs, operate at the speed of change, and level the playing field between publishers and the public.  

In coalition with organizations including Authors Alliance, Boston Public Library, Creative Commons, EveryLibrary, Fight for the Future, Internet Archive, Public Knowledge, Readers First, SPARC, and the Special Libraries Association, this public interest alliance seeks to enable collective action while building power through an innovative advocacy organization. “We need Library Futures now more than ever to organize the voices of librarians to fight for the role of libraries as a public resource for information in the digital age,” says Chris Lewis, President and CEO of Public Knowledge. 

“I am very excited to be a part of Library Futures. This organization is poised to make real change at issues I care about deeply - issues that are challenging libraries today - access and equity,” says Kyle K. Courtney, Copyright Advisor and Program Manager at the Harvard Library Office for Scholarly Communication and Chair of the Library Futures Board. “Digital library books—when loaned correctly—can be a pivotal tool libraries use to preserve great works, provide patrons with access to books, and defend patron privacy. I hope the community will join us in standing up for the future of libraries.”

“I am honored to be leading this organization, which will take on major issues in libraries and help usher in a more inclusive digital future for teachers, learners, and researchers from every walk of life,” says Jennie Rose Halperin, Executive Director.

The campaign can be reshared from the Library Futures social media accounts: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and inquiries regarding press, coalition partners, donations, or volunteer opportunities can be directed to jennie@libraryfutures.net.

Please visit the Library Futures website at https://libraryfutures.net, sign up for the mailing list, and stay tuned for future developments and opportunities.

RF notes substantial overlap in mission with Library Futures and looks forward to joint action for the good of libraries.

CORE Consortial EBook Interest Group Meeting

Forwarding a message from Group Member Steve Spohn.

 With apologies for cross posting, I wanted to invite you all to the upcoming meeting of the Ebooks Interest Group in our new home in ALA’s new Core Division.  All who are interested in the intersection between libraries and ebooks are welcome.  ALA membership is not required though we certainly welcome new members as well!

February 2

1 to 2 pm ET / 12 - 1 pm CT / 11 - 12 pm MT / 10 - 11 am PT

 At the meeting, we’ll have updates on your favorite ebook projects, a sneak peek at something new and a discussion about our focus in the coming years.

P.S.  Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join us in this interest group.  You just need a free ALA Connect account to get setup if you aren’t already an ALA member:

https://connect.ala.org/core/communities/community-home?CommunityKey=c2a719fe-4059-402c-8b08-10f3b81ebb68

Register here:

https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwpcu6rrzkpHtxJzcj-MVyPBAW9KGNmInYJ

 All my best,

Steve

Co-convener, Core Ebooks Interest Group

Alan Inouye's ALA Public Policy and Advocacy Developments 1/18/21

Thanks to Alan Inouye, ALA Senior Director, Public Policy & Government Relations, for sharing:

Upcoming Sessions at 2021 ALA Virtual Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits (registration closes on Tuesday, 1/19):

A special conversation with ALA President and Senator Jack Reed [Saturday, 3:40 - 4:00 p.m., central]

https://www.eventscribe.net/2021/ALA-Midwinter/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presInfo&PresentationID=835698&query=jack%20reed

ALA Closing Session Speaker: Dr. Jill Biden [Monday, 11:15 a.m. to Noon, central]

https://www.eventscribe.net/2021/ALA-Midwinter/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presInfo&PresentationID=802554&query=biden

Navigating Advocacy in a Virtual World [on-demand]

https://www.eventscribe.net/2021/ALA-Midwinter/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presInfo&PresentationID=806258&query=advocacy

New Directions from State and Federal Policy Makers. Maximize your Influence!  [on-demand]

https://www.eventscribe.net/2021/ALA-Midwinter/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presInfo&PresentationID=806260

Libraries Build Business Lunch & Learn: Project Update [on-demand]

https://www.eventscribe.net/2021/ALA-Midwinter/fsPopup.asp?Mode=presInfo&PresentationID=806256

Rep. Andy Levin on tour at Clinton-Macomb Public Library (Michigan)

https://twitter.com/RepAndyLevin/status/1349075926966013954

https://twitter.com/RepAndyLevin/status/1349033144767315971

$5 million increase for IMLS in FY21 budget

https://twitter.com/LibraryPolicy/status/1341502162552172544

ALA joined AFSCME, AFT, NEA, SEIU, and other public interest groups in a letter to the incoming Biden-Harris Administration to urge federal aid to state and local governmental entities be included in Covid-19 relief and recovery bills.

https://twitter.com/AlanSInouye/status/1351105840934227968

https://www.afscme.org/blog/as-biden-harris-take-over-afscme-renews-calls-for-federal-aid-for-public-services?utm_content=bufferdf77f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

OMB expanded eligibility for discounted fees for FOIA requests from "teachers or students" to "faculty, staff, or students"--thus including librarians. ALA filed comments with AALL and ARL.

https://twitter.com/AlanSInouye/status/1346029849488588804

"Food, Shelter, and the Public Library" by Sari Feldman, in Publishers Weekly

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/libraries/article/85277-food-shelter-and-the-public-library.html

Op-ed on the formerly incarcerated and how libraries help them re-enter society, by Alan Inouye and Emily Mooney (R Street Institute)

https://twitter.com/LibraryPolicy/status/1344089628140318726

https://alansinouye.medium.com/how-libraries-enable-reentry-post-incarceration-and-tend-to-public-health-needs-ce312289108b

DPLA Presents "SimplyE and Digital Resource Solutions for the Second Wave"

Or Friends at the Digital Public Library of America have posted news of a webinar

Date: Wednesday, January 27, at 3 pm ET

We are teaming up with EveryLibrary Institute to present this free webinar about how SimplyE can help libraries maximize access to ebooks. The webinar will include insights from our partners at Alameda County Library and Brooklyn Public Library about how they are using SimplyE to improve the patron experience. Please register here.

Join to learn more about “The One App to Rule Them All.”

Maryland Joins New York and Rhode Island in Digital Legislation

HB518 has dropped in the Maryland Legislative Session, joining previous bills from New York and Rhode Island “Requiring a publisher who offers to license an electronic book to the public to also offer to license the book to public libraries in the State on reasonable terms that would enable public libraries to provide library users with access to the electronic book; requiring the license terms authorizing public libraries to provide access to electronic books to include certain limitations and measures.”

The New York and Rhode Island bills were not acted on last year because of the onslaught of the COVID virus. They may be resurfaced this year. The Maryland bill is new this year.

None of these bills are “anti-publisher.” We in libraries don’t wish to do down the starving artist, emerging from the virtual garret with the next Great American Novel. We don’t want publishers to go out of business.

The bills are pro-reader. We just want residents to have access without undue restriction. It’s not like we in libraries have the money to provide so much digital access that we cost publishers that much business. Plus, we help the public discover (and ultimately buy) titles.

In any case, as we at RF always say, “it shouldn’t require a credit card to be an informed resident.”

So far, no organized opposition seems to be materializing. We’ll keep you posted on developments.

Similar Federal legislation would be helpful. We can hope it might emerge someday.

2020 RF Cheers and Jeers!

In the spirit of the season—Ho, ho, ho!—Readers First is not jeering this year. This is a break from tradition—typically we like to voice the snark that many librarians might harbor but are simply too nice to say. Feature writes who want a source that will slag publisher and vendor come our way, knowing we will lay it on with a trowel. Instead, this year we cheer all publishers and vendors who have offered special terms and even free access on content during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping beleaguered readers (and librarians) have better access to a time when many physical collections were inaccessible. There are too many to thank individually but a listed (somewhat outdated, alas) may be found posted by the U of South Dakota library, Vendor Love in a Time of COVID. Not included in this list is Amazon, which we at RF hope will ink a deal with DPLA (as reported earlier on RF) to bring previously exclusive content to library readers. Amazon earned an RF jeer last year—we’re withholding the raspberry this year pending the outcome of those negotiations.

If you are not on the list at this link and want a mention, please post below!

Cheers, too, to all librarians and library organizations that expanded digital content offerings, created virtual programming, advocated for funding, and advocated with vendors to help their readers. The pandemic has revealed weaknesses in places, but it has also shown how nimble, able to transform, and dedicated librarians are to providing content and services under even the most trying circumstances.

Here’s to a brighter 2021 for all!

IA asks, What if you could wander the library stacks…online?

Wendy Hanamura of the Internet Archive has posted about the new (still in Beta) Open Library Explorer, created by the IA’s Drini Cami.

“Open Library Explorer is able to harness the Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress classification systems to recreate virtually the experience of browsing the bookshelves at a physical library. Open Library Explorer enables readers to scan bookshelves left to right by subject, up and down for subclassifications. Switch a filter and suddenly the bookshelves are full of juvenile books. Type in “subject: biography” and you see nothing but biographies arranged by subject matter.”

“For music, movies, or books, Spotify, Netflix and Amazon use complicated recommendation algorithms to suggest what you should encounter next. But those algorithms are driven by the media you have already consumed. They put you into a “filter bubble” where you only see books similar to those you’ve already read. Cami and his team devised the Open Library Explorer as an alternative to recommendation engines. With the Open Library Explorer, you are free to dive deeper and deeper into the stacks. Where you go is driven by you, not by an algorithm.”

Visit the link above to learn more and try it out. It’s fun , and you’ll most likely “leave the library having discovered something new—usually a variety of new things!”

Macmillan Announces an Extension to Content Use by Teachers, Librarians, and Parents

Macmillan has released the following news:

Macmillan Publishers announced today that it will extend its Content Use Guidelines for Teachers, Librarians, and Parents through June 30, 2021. 

Under the program, teachers and librarians can live stream or post videos reading Macmillan children's books to their students, and authors can livestream or post videos reading their children's books, provided it is done on a noncommercial basis. 

All educators, librarians, and parents who want to participate in the program can learn more here.

RF thanks Macmillan for its support of literacy in a difficult time!

PRH Extends its Storytime Permissions and Temporary Ebook Models

Penguin Random House has extended both its Story Time Temporary Permissions and temporary ebook models through to June 30, 2021, rather than just through March 31.

PRH-published ebooks and audiobooks are available in a 12-month term at 50% of the cost of the 24-month term option.

PRH-published ebooks and audiobooks are also available in a cost-per-circulation model at 10% of the cost of the 24-month term option.

These new models are offered in addition to PRH’s 24-month term for ebooks and One Copy/One User model for audiobooks.

Non-profit story tellers can use PRH titles virtually under an expanded agreement:

For Teachers, Educators, Librarians, Booksellers, and Other Qualified Individuals providing distance learning and read-aloud events:

• Story time or classroom read-aloud videos in which a Penguin Random House book is read aloud (including the reader showing pictures in the case of picture books) may be created and posted to closed educational platforms such as Google Classroom, Schoology, Edmodo, and Discovery Education, along with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, in order to replicate the read-aloud book experience that would otherwise be available to teachers and educators in the classroom, librarians in the library, and booksellers in the bookstores. Other qualified individuals are included, as long as the reading is not for profit.

Full information is available here.

The extension comes in response to the resurgence of the COVID pandemic, with accompanying concerns about attendance during the academic year and patrons’ ability to visit libraries in person.

RF again thanks PRH for promoting libraries’ ability to foster literacy in this difficult time!

PW Reports on the Potential Amazon/DPLA Content Sharing

Andrew Albanese of PW has further investigated Amazon Publishing possibly sharing its content with public libraries through the DPLA Content Exchange and SimplyE.

The article is well-wroth a read for providing more details, but here are some excerpts.

And in a call with PW, DPLA officials confirmed that a deal could be done soon.

"I don’t want to get too far out over my skis," said Michele Kimpton, director of business development and senior strategist for the Digital Public Library of America, when asked to characterize how close a potential deal was to completion. Kimpton told PW that talks with Amazon have been ongoing since spring, adding that the discussions have gone well and that the parties were making "good progress.” And while she expressed hope that Amazon titles could be available to libraries on the DPLA Exchange sometime in early 2021, she also tempered expectations, stressing there were still details to be worked out.

Such an agreement would be a major breakthrough in the library e-book market. Amazon currently does not make its digital content available to libraries under any terms—an exclusion that librarians have loudly criticized for years, and brought to the attention of lawmakers in an ALA report last year.

Speaking with PW this week, Kimpton further clarified the scope of the potential agreement. First and foremost, the discussion covers Amazon Publishing titles only (not titles from Amazon’s KDP program). The current talks also do not include Audible, Amazon's digital audio service, which does not make its exclusive content available to libraries. And while Amazon is heavily invested in a subscription model for books and reading (Audible, Kindle Unlimited) a subscription model for libraries has not been part of the talks. All titles under the potential deal would be licensed ePub editions managed by the DPLA and its partner libraries and made accessible to patrons via the DPLA’s SimplyE platform—meaning library users would not have to go through Amazon to access the titles.

If completed, a deal would be a major coup for SimplyE and the Digital Public Library of America’s growing e-book platform, the DPLA Exchange. After all, to license Amazon Publishing titles libraries would need to use the DPLA exchange, and patrons would need to deploy the SimplyE app to access them. Meanwhile, commercial vendors in the library e-book market contacted by PW declined to comment on the development, or whether they too were in talks with Amazon.

“We have been doing a lot of work around new licensing models that provide libraries with choice and provide patrons more reading material,” Kimpton says. “We have to get away from this process of hold queue after hold queue for e-books. We hope libraries will embrace these models, and we hope we can keep exploring new ways to get more books in the hands of patrons and off of this holds queue model, which is a waste of taxpayer dollars and a waste of library resources because too much work goes into managing [digital lends] rather than doing what librarians do best, which is create collections and develop relationships with their communities to promote reading.”

While some details remain to be ironed out, Kimpton said Amazon was on board with offering multiple licensing models. And while she declined to characterize Amazon’s broader approach to the digital library market, she stressed that as a library-based and library-centric nonprofit, any deal DPLA struck, with Amazon or any publisher, would necessarily align with core library values, including equitable access, and patron privacy.

ReadersFirst is greatly encouraged by these developments and by DPLA’s work to ensure content is shared according to best library principles. While we support the adoption of SimplyE, Amazon extending its content through all vendors is not unwelcome. Audible content eventually being added would be most welcome. Thank you to Amazon for considering working with libraries! If this were to result in terms that shared ebooks as DPLA has with some other publishers, this content could perhaps be one of the best deals for libraries.