Libraries Are Doing It For Themselves

It has always been a mystery why some who were always to be regarded as being too small to compete digitally by themselves did not take the consortia and collaboration route to self determination. Instead they were often happy to sit on the edge and watch as others ate their lunch or entered into deals were they effectively gave away their customers, or even their transactions for what appears to be chump change in commission. Publishers, retailers and libraries often forgot what they did best and rolled over digitally, even Waterstones rolled over, admitted their were bereft of digital competency and welcomed Amazon in through the back door

Now we are starting to see some smart publishing initiatives which can make a difference. Faber’s Factory offers small to medium publishers the benefits of a digital consortia, Bloombury online offers other publisher the ability to share their digital shelves but libraries and retailer who would appear to be those that are most a threat have often failed to grasp the digital nettle.

It seems an age since Overdrive took to the road in the US to show off their digital capabilities and enlist the libraries into their universe. The model was easy for libraries to adopt and merely involved them handing over their digital lending to Overdrive. Where once they owned their books they now simply white labelled them on demand. However some library organisations in the US are now making bold but logical and long overdue strides to take control of their ebook environment.  The Douglas County Libraries in Colorado are being followed by the San Mateo-based Califa Group, which is the largest library network in California and Kansas State Library. The objective is to create their own library and striking a deal with Smashwords for outright ownership of its top-selling titles and with  Boopsie to provide mobile apps for the platform. The Califa deal with Smashwords will enable them to purchase some 10,000 of the their top titles for around $3 a title and host these on their own Adobe Content Server. There is no reason why the server could not host compliant files from any other source and in doing so build their own digital facility which could easily expand even be linked with others. Publishers who today are sticking their heads into the sand on digital lending or inventing that infamous ‘26 loans and re-buy’ rules should be wary that this model could soon snowball and leave them with a bad PR nightmare. In contrast, it is being claimed that some small publishers sensing an opportunity to be seen are even prepared to give the book free to the library as a show of support, whilst others said that they would sell to the library at a price below retail.

The interesting twist that Smashwords offers is the ability for the libraries to offer self publishing facilities to their patrons. This is an interesting added value which could provide the community with a two way hub and also reverse feed Smashwords would could then in turn feed its retail Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, Sony etc.

So at a time when the public library is under threat some are showing that they have the vision to move forward and even raise funding in difficult times to start to redefine the library in the digital arena. Libraries have a great potential future but are not going to achieve it by standing still and trying to defend yesterday. By staking out a place and acting collectively they may not only redefine their future, strike up meaningful partnerships that are two way and importantly present the community with a new focus. 

US Libraries to Take Ownership of Digital?

We have to respect that there are only so many hands that can access the till before it becomes uneconomic. One of the challenges faced by public libraries and bookstores is that they are totally dependant on the digital aggregators and service providers for the supply of content and a digital platform. Instead of investing in growing their own infrastructure they opted to leave it to others and then are surprised when those same players threaten to sidestep them or end up having the real relationship with the consumers.

Why did the Bookseller’s and Library bodies not build their own service, to both host digital files and service them to their members? Why did they effectively role over and leave it to others to grab the space? It was potentially on the agenda, but often dismissed as not being ‘their’ businesses. Was this a wise move?
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Last year the Douglas County Libraries in Colorado started to take control of their own content and this has attracted much attention and is being watch by other libraries and publishers in the US. Douglas County have started to purchase ebook files directly from publishers and host these on their own Adobe ACS4 Content Server and serve them up directly to their communities. The Califa Group, which claims to be the largest library network in California, has now decided to follow the same route.

Once a member has been authenticated they will be able to borrow ebooks in the EPUB format that will work on a variety of devices. There may also be links provided to buy ebooks.

The libraries are also working on the legal framework that was produced with librarylaw.com, which is not a formal contract but based on documents that spell out terms of engagement with publishers and avoids costly and time-consuming contracts with each publisher.

A “Statement for Common Understanding for Purchasing Econtent,” asserts the library’s rights under the first sale doctrine of the Copyright Act:
The Library may lend a copy to a library user under First Sale 17 U.S.C. Sect. 109. The Library may make incidental copies as necessary to perform the lending function. The lending copy is an ‘evanescent’ copy that disappears after a set period such as two weeks. During that time, the copy is not available to any other party. Incidental exercises of other lawful rights constitute non-infringing ‘fair use.’

It also affirms the library’s obligation to safeguard the intellectual content of a copyright owner:
The Library may not make multiple unauthorized copies to sell or lend. The Library may lend one copy to one user at a time. For example, if the Library buys four copies of a work, it may lend four copies simultaneously. It may not make derivative works, such as translations or movies. These are exclusive rights granted to the copyright owner 17 U.S.C. Sect. 106.

The framework also describes the library’s need to own (not lease) files, the library’s digital rights management system and the case for traditional library discounts to be applied.

The library market’s ability to act in a consortia manner may add another dimension as they are able to share contract deals with publishers, code, interfaces and much more re experience and for smaller publishers this may prove a real opportunity. Although it sounds straight forward and logical this is still just a small initiative which still faces interesting challenges and many potential push back.