Should the Underground Offer Commuters an eBook Library?

Imagine getting free access to an electronic library when travelling on the tube. Well that is what travelers can now enjoy on Line 4 of the Beijing metro.

The metro lines carriages feature barcodes which people can scan with their tablets or smartphones and this then enables them to select from a selection of books.

Howeve,r there are some obvious challenges today. Firstly there is only a choice of ten books and these historical Chinese texts. This may be a novelty today and prove too restrictive for many tomorrow. Next, the books are planned to change every couple of months, which obviously gives anyone who starts close to the end of the cycle a reading challenge. Finally, the length of the texts is not clear, but if they were say the length of UK and US titles, it may prove uninviting to those who don’t commute every day, or whose journey is relatively short. Again it is unclear whether the books are downloaded or read online, so the question of offline, or off rail, reading is also unclear.

However, if we ignore the questions raised and focus on the opportunity we can see the potential for others to adapt the proposition for other commuter communities in other cities.

Imagine the highly successful London underground poems all being available to introduce many to poetry and give that daily food for thought. Imagine sample chapters being promoted by publishers to stimulate interest in their latest titles and not just the bestsellers. Imagine a new novel being introduced Dickens style by serialisation. Imagine a library linked to the city's public library, or the national library and allowing lending on the move to those that are entitled to the service.

The question of whether it is a public or private or joint service is an intresting one but should not be a barrier to encouraging reading.

The opportunities are not restricted by technology, as it exists today, but are only restricted by the vision and commitment to enabling travelers to enjoy reading.

To see the ChineseBTV News Channel report (it’s in Chinese).

Can The Public Library Deliver That Golden Egg?

Why do we allow the goose that could lay a golden egg to decline? If you could envisage one service , one hub, one recognised body from today that could do battle with the internet’s digital  omnivores and add real value, it would not be the big chains, nor the media chains, not the independent bookstores and not even the supermarkets, but could be the public library.

The public library has the real ability to add real value and to be a real community hub in social network community world. But does it understand this, or as in the UK, is it obsessed with its statutory obligations and keeping everything ‘as is’ at all costs? Are the ‘Shhh, no noise’ signs actually hiding a sleeping environment that is simply not listening to the market and its customers?

We are witnessing harsh funding cuts, a worrying migration to voluntary services, the wholesale dumping of every customer facing civic service into the library’s ‘underused space’ and a general lack of leadership and digital direction within the public library community.

This last week we read about further potential cuts to library services in Newcastle, Sheffield and Islington, but today’s  budget cuts of today are not so much a result of the current financial climate but the years of lack of leadership, coherent strategy which have lead them to be seen as ‘soft targets’ for decline and cuts today. Joining up the service dots now is proving a challenge in an environment full of different agendas and too many experts. Many ‘talk the talk’, but few ‘walk the walk’ and innovation is often viewed as ‘not invented here’. There are as with any diverse group, exceptions which will get quoted to rebuke this view, but the majority remain wedded to the past, or find them selves struggling to treat the patient that is now past plasters and bandages.

Has the media and publishing community really helped? Where they there when the market started to turn digital, or sitting on the side looking after their own interests? Why is the only real substantial offer in the UK libraries from the US Overdrive? Why are some publishers still undecided on how to licence ebooks to libraries and some more concerned about reorders for no worn out digital copies than promoting open lending? We will give books away to promote reading. We will support 15 million unit promotions with junk food giants, but we still fail to resolve the digital economics of ebooks in a library world. There is no national incentive to build a UK digital library to serve all but several initiatives to outsource the core business to others such as Overdrive.

Perhaps we are dreamers, but replicating digital programmes in every community and ‘cut and pasting’ Overdrive’s API onto the back of the library system is not a viable long term solution and is not a sustainable model.

Some have suggested that libraries should only be able to lend digital books from the physical library. We wish they had used the same logic on the High Street, but again we all know how ludicrous that argument would have been. Libraries now have to be available 365 x 24 x 7 and the internet offer today in many is woefully short of offering that service. It’s not just about digital its about community service and that should not stop when the librarian shuts the door. 

Some have struggled to define what staffing resources should be in the front line. Its not about staff but resources and access to them. Educators are realising that all teachers are not equal and that the ‘best of class’ resources can be brought in by services like TED Ed. We can’t expect staff to be experts in everything and have knowledge of all things, they should be great with people, know where to find the best help, engage  are developing why do we believe that every librarian is perfect? The key is to adopt a uniform approach that engage in many ways and levels and that owns the interface until the customer is satisfied. Libraries don’t need an Information Managers but a Customer Mangers with access to information. 

We have to recognise that Amazon is just one step away from being a universal library today! Look at FreeTime, LoveFilm, Audible, or their own ebook lending programme and ask what is different to a library. Google and Wikipedia are accepted as the sources of information that is good enough for the majority and available in a click. Google is scanning in the world’s top libraries and amassing a significant body of work. They will only hold it once and they can serve it to answer any search , or as a feed, or to sell and of course to growth advertising revenues. If Amazon has the media and Google the information what does the library have except the legacy and cost? The key is collective vision and co-operation, something often foreign to ‘information managers’.

Why do we believe that libraries have a place tomorrow and can lay that golden egg? How do we think that they can offer real value to the community? Why do we think that they can fare any better than the doomed chains when pitted against the Internet omnivores?

They are community hubs, funded by the community for the community and not merely to satisfy the letter of a law. They are meeting places and social hubs. They are sources of and access to information. If they focus on these aspects they can justify there future. However co-operation and a dramatic reduction of duplication and resources are the keys and the question should be how the communities can be structured to enable this and deliver that golden egg. 

Some of the many related blogs:

Public Libraries: Back to the Future Nov 2010

Digitally Wallpaper Library Shelves Sep 2011

Can You Define Tomorrow's Public Library Nov 2011

Digital Library Fallout Continues Feb 2012

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. 

Public Library News: April Fools?

April Fools Day always raises some dubious claims, which have to be carefully considered before they are accepted as genuine. It was therefore somewhat an unfortunate day for the Public Library News blog to post a report into a panel discussion on the future of public libraries held under the Arts Council England (ACE). Perhaps they just couldn’t wait another day and thought the news to hot to handle, or perhaps it was a spoof.

What we found interesting was that they seemed to have dropped the ‘book’ and moved onto ‘community centres’. The ‘core services’ were about ; civic engagement, transformation, getting people back to work, promoting health and repeatedly they have some weird obsession with 3D printing and fab-labs .

It certainly didn’t describe a library as we know it today, or yesterday and books were brushed off as being "the given". On one hand they wanted to ‘engage more with e-books and encourage "live" literature such as author visits’, but on the other saw acquisition, cataloguing and librarians as past their sell by date. They state that ‘other people offering these things (books). Why should a library offer them too?’

The more we read, the more convinced that it must be an April Fools Joke. The thinking was far from joined up and somewhat all over the floor. So on one hand we have real estate and inventory and folk who are trained to relate this to the community and on the other thinking that say we can role up the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, the civic crèche, the Community Day Care Centre, the Tourist Information Centre, the Job Centre, whatever into one building and call it a library. Forgetthe books its more about the service. Its as if thinking 10 years out they believe the community will still be physical and need a building or that ‘books are a given’ but don’t need curators and people interested in them to manage the service. We fondly remember when librarians became ‘Information Officers’ and wonder if the same hands are on this tiller.

The Public library service is what it says on the tin and changing that redefines its role, who it employees, its financing, and who its customers are. The panel discussion clearly lacked vision, mission and operation today and it’s a shame as it has potentially a huge role to play in the digital age and one far more engaging than 3D printing.

Their conclusion was that, ‘the argument in the country tells you what passionate feelings have about their libraries. Makes it important to discuss. We need to get thinking for "not tomorrow" but for 5 or 10 years time.’ Ours is that they should get today’s thinking joined up before they dream like little children on what they want to be when they grow up.

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.

Digital Library Fallout Continues

The above poster comes from Sarah Houghton, who is the Acting Director for the San Rafael Public Library, Calofornia and writes a blog Librarian in Black. In frustration to the current non supply of some major publisher's ebook titles, Houghton had posted the notice on her library wall.

Yesterday, Penguin added fuel to the debate when it announced that they have effectively shutting down their ebook relationship with the major digital public library service provider, Overdrive. We find ourselves now asking many questions about the state of digital public library support from publishers and the thorny issue of the ebook rent and loan business models.

Why are some refusing to allow public libraries to loan out their ebooks which are freely available to buy in the market? Why has Penguin withdrawn its ebooks from the Overdrive digital library service? Why has a prominent group of major publishers refused to supply ebooks to public libraries? Why did HarperCollins previously invent a rule that said ebooks wear out after the same number of loans as their physical counterparts and must be bought again? Why are some insisting that library lending has to be done physically in the library and not over the networks?

If we look at the public library we see the friction many predicted between publishers and the libraries over digital content. You can wrap it up many ways, but at the heart lies commerce and the challenges of download to buy versus loan for free. If libraries seize the opportunity to loan ebooks and appeal to a wider and larger audience they could undermine today’s revenue streams. If they don’t seize the digital opportunity and remain wedded in the physical world they could spiral into obsolescence.

Some would suggest that libraries charge for ebook rentals and also sell downloads, but does this work against their public principles. Some would ask why publishers aren’t renting books out direct themselves and why we are still wedded to the ‘ownership’ model in a virtual world? If there were to be a significant shift in market demand, do publishers have rental models that would hold water?

Some like Bloomsbury Online are quietly forging library relationships and moving forward, whilst others appear to be standing firm behind the barricades and not moving.

The Overdrive service is not new and it is the dominant provider to public libraries today, not just in the US, but increasingly in many countries. The libraries like the retailers have left it to third parties to invest and provide the common platform and repository. Was this wise, – probably not? Was it inevitable given the funding, – probably? However, we are were we are and it isn’t going to change for some time.

The tragedy is that these battles are being fought in public at a time when we all try to help reposition the public library in the face of disruptive change, spending cuts and even closures. It would appear to be more about reacting to change, not from a collective, but a singular perspective.

Some of our other recent posts on this subject:
Can eBooks meet the Changing Social Demand? Nov 28th 2011
Whose going to capture the various library worlds? June 20th 2011
Amazon Takes Another Step to Join the Publishing Pieces May 5th 2011
Amazon Overdrive Potentially Lock Up Libraries April 20th 2011
Freeing eLibraries to Compete? March 15th 2011
Digital Library Madness: 26 and You Are Out February 27th 2011
'Public Libraries: Back to the Future'. Brave New World December 2010

Digitally Wallpapering Library Shelves?

We can now see a big question mark over who, how and what is the digital future of our public libraries. Again we need to look at the US today and recognise that although the system may be different, the direction is similar for all and the impact could be either rejuvenating, or dire for those public libraries already fighting to redefine themselves in this new world.

“Starting today, millions of Kindle customers can borrow Kindle books from their local libraries...Libraries are a critical part of our communities...we’re excited to be making Kindle books available at more than 11,000 local libraries around the country.” says Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle. Amazon.com news release

Some suggest that Overdrive has merely opened the door to its demise, others that they are merely rolling over and awaiting the cheque. Whatever your thinking on the outcome of the marriage, it now has been consummated and Kindle lending is here to stay. Forget that lending has been available on other platforms it is Kindle that counts and Kindle that now resonates with ebooks in the mind of the consumer.

Library lending does have rules on the checking out e-books. In the main publishers have said that libraries must treat digital collections the same way as they treat physical collections. This means that if a library buys 5 copies of a certain book, then only 5 copies can be digitally checked out at one time. This may cause frustration for members but they then appreciate not having to visit a physical library which can be downloaded from anywhere. They also don’t have to return the books as they simply become inaccessible. Best of all they are free to members.
However, the restriction on concurrent loans could mean that members who find their desired book is already out on loan could elect to join the queue, or as is more likely, simply go and buy it from Amazon. If the library loan demand increases as expected, then its logically to assume that Amazon will benefit and pick up more sales. The more the latent demand the better it may become for Amazon.

Some publishers have not risen to the opportunity and have chosen instead to bury their heads in their bookshelves. Two major trade publishers, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, still do not make their e-books available to libraries. HarperCollins on the other hand has annoyed some librarians by introducing a new restriction on its e-books, that limited individual checking out of a title to 26 times before it ‘digitally expired’ and had to be repurchased.

So the big question remains whether the ebook revolution is going to bring millions of readers to the public library, as predicted by Overdrive’s CEO Steve Potash, or create a springboard to a new consumer model which could actually damage the digital public library?

We think it is a great opportunity for libraries but only if publishers seek to make it happen and everyone makes sure that it is mutually beneficial.

What is astounding in today’s world is why the libraries did little to actually create their own service. Why they effectively outsourced their shelves to others and failed to aggregate themselves. Some such as the National libraries have clearly created their own digital collections, but the vast majority have simply rolled over and let in the likes of Overdrive and now Amazon wallpaper their shelves. Are public libraries to become mere 'white label' libraries in the future.

We have to ask whether that is was wise dot com?

Some of our other recent posts on this subject:
Whose going to capture the various library worlds June 20th 2011
Amazon Takes Another Step to Join the Publishing Pieces May 5th 2011
Amazon Overdrive Potentially Lock Up Libraries April 20th 2011
Freeing eLibraries to Compete? March 15th 2011
Digital Library Madness: 26 and You Are Out February 27th 2011

KOBO Has To Follow?

We have still to address ebooks for free from your armchair via your public library versus ebooks to buy, or licence from the internet. The challenge is real and continues to demonstrate that digital is different.

We saw Barnes and Noble and Amazon open up their respective doors to book lending and although this is still on a small scale. We have seen Amazon forging a relationship with Overdrive and providing ebooks alongside Overdrive into libraries. It is also easy to envisage that together with Google’s cloud approach books on demand, for individual rental or subscription may not too is not far away and it is easy to see Apple ticking all the boxes. It is also easy to envisage this being the way to create effective reselling or licensing of used ebooks.

Now we read that the other albeit smaller aggregator Kobo, has also an eBook lending program planned this year! Although Kobo has not divulged all of their plans for lending program it is defiantly coming and probably a must if they are to keep up with the bigger competition.

The challenge for all these new initiatives is to get Publishers to agree to it and although the bigger ones may be cautious and slow to adopt, independents are more likely to adopt a more adventurous and early adopter approach.

In order for Kobo to be on par with the biggest companies in the e-reader and ebook market, they have to implement ebook lending and also a self-publishing program.

Freeing eLibraries to Compete?

The book world appears to be caught wanting on one hand to promote reading, the love of books and sharing books as an experience and at the same time also wanting to repress any thought of ‘free’ that they don’t control through license and DRM. The publicity exposure and promotion of giving away 1 million free books on World Book Night is countered by the stance by many over lending ebooks and HaperCollins’s new rules on ebooks life expectancy being 26 lendings. On one hand we wish to promote ‘free to share’, yet on the other, we face the commercial reality of inappropriate terms.

We have long argued about the hypocrisy of free to borrow from the library, versus buy on-demand on the High Street or Internet. As is often is the case within media industries, they react late, often heavy handed and lack any real cohesive position across the market.

Today we find that the digital goalposts have moved. Amazon and B&N now both offer 14 day loans and with this we now find a number of new service providers all geared to assisting readers to share ebooks under a commercial umbrella.

BookLending, Lendle,eBookFling, ebookexchange, ebooklendinglibrary,Fictionwise Booklends, are but a few of the services now aiming to cash in on sharing or lending books.

Before Amazon, B&N and Google etc become the new library services we should explore our options. After all, what is the difference between one exclusive loan by Amazon and another by the public library?

Should public libraries ‘rent out’ ebooks, as opposed to the current ‘loan for free’ model? If you find the ebook you want is out on loan and don’t want to wait in the queue, why not buy it online there and then? New York Public Library apparently already has a "Buy It Now" link, which is "powered by" OverDrive and gives a portion of the revenue from purchase back to the library. Is this not merely a shop within a library and why shouldn’t libraries sell as well as loan?

If all public libraries also sold ebooks we could see an explosion of ebook virtual shelf space. We could find ourselves with a new book ‘chain’ , with the libraries becoming white label stores. Public libraries suddenly could enjoy a revenue stream ,that could not only subsidise their continued existence, but also provide a compelling offer of loan, or buy, or even rent.

Surely that would promote reading and put the library back in the centre of the community and even promote physical loans.

Digital Library Madness: 26 and You Are Out

In being able to potentially offer ebooks for free and from anywhere, against the retail model of payment, the digital public library now challenges the wider book market's pricing, revenues and licensing models.

Some would suggest that the recent statements by the UK Publishers Association which declared new restrictions and rules for digital lending in UK public libraries were misguided and naive. We now read that the leading public library digital service, Overdrive, has now issued a letter to their library customers in which their CEO, Steve Potash claims, ‘several trade publishers are re-evaluating eBook licensing terms for library lending services. Publishers are expressing concern and debating their digital future where a single eBook license to a library may never expire, never wear out, and never need replacement.’

Apparently, a group of trade publishers now wish to change the commercials based on ebooks being different! However, they appear to want to still align them to the physical product's commercials. It is claimed that HarperCollins has already revised its terms for new e-book loans, limiting the number of times an e-book can be licensed for checkout to 26. The revised terms, which will apply only to new titles come with a short statement from HarperCollins that they are , " committed to the library channel. We believe this change balances the value libraries get from our titles with the need to protect our authors and ensure a presence in public libraries and the communities they serve for years to come."

There is nothing wrong with the realisation that digital is about licensing titles within a perpetual collection. However tying a digital licence to the commercials of an outright purchase makes little sense. The notional '26' license is not based on a annual rental value, but on the average lifespan of a print book, the wear and tear on circulating copies and what is seen as a lifetime of one year for a popular e-book title based on a lending period of two weeks.

Apparently today Macmillan or Simon and Shuster are not even permitting any library circulation of their e-books.

Digital books are digital full stop. Mixing them with physical books does not make sense as one is purchase and the other clear licence. eBooks don’t wear out so claiming that as the pricing model is naive. The lending of digital media can be controlled effectively in terms of concurrent lending, territorial rights and removal of access. They don’t sit in huge library repositories, but often with aggregators and libraries merely access their own collection. So why can’t all parties sort this out properly and create a proper digital framework and avoid what some would see as posturing and ill thought out strategy? Instead of imposing one after another restriction and shoehorning digital terms into physical ones, why not look at a new model and avoid the mixed messages and alienating a major channel and consumer interface?

Players such as Bloomsbury licence their innovative library shelf and European services such as eBog have clearly separated the digital from the physical. A group of libraries led by the Internet Archive have announced a new, cooperative 80,000+ eBook lending collection of mostly 20th century books. OpenLibrary.org, today offers over 1 million eBooks.

Overdrive may dominate today, but we have yet to see Google’s reach and Amazon and others are all champing at the bit to get into rentals and lending. All services are capable of integrating with library management systems to ensure registration and community catchment are valid and it is easy to ensure that the number of copies available at any time relates to the licence.

Why not make the ‘licence’ tiered to offer a range of lending rights and terms? At the basic level we could have a restriction to allow a single concurrent loan on an annual licence. We then could allow the concurrency of access to increase in bands based on licence fee, effectively buying bands of access at title level. We could permit ‘on demand lending’ based not on individual collection but the whole repository and where the charge is retrospective based on actual loans and on usage not on filling virtual shelves with ebooks which may not move. On demand could be a charged premium service. The institutional and academic markets have long risen to the flexible approaches to collection licensing but its as if the trade is either naïve to these options, or seek to reinvent the wheel.

As we increasingly move towards on demand streaming. digital loans and rental for ebooks we have to recognise that common licensing models make sense. The digital options are many and the opportunity to engage and invigorate the public library channel is significant.

Public Libraries: Back to the Future

Three separate incidents in this last week stimulated some interesting thoughts on public libraries. First, UK TV covered a news article last week about a rural village, who on losing their mobile library facility, had taken over a disused old phone box and turned it into a book exchange where the villages could do precisely that, exchange their books at any time. We also wrote about Amazon’s lending function on ebooks which starts to offer a host of potential new opportunities far past the current service. Finally, on sending a card to friends who live in a small village in the peak district, we remembered their address as being a building called ‘The Reading Room.’ In the 19th century,The Reading Room’ served the community as a private library and it’s patron was the local landowner.

Today we look on the public library as a service funded and run by public funds, but that has not always been the case and philanthropy has played a major part of shaping what we now regard as a public service. The early public libraries in the UK often were very local and not freely accessible to the public. The notable exception was the Chetham Library in Manchester which opened in 1653 and claims to be the oldest public library in the English-speaking world.

It wasn’t until the turn of the 18th century that libraries moved from a closed parochial model to lending libraries. Before this time, public libraries frequently chained their books to desks. There was in fact a wide network of library provision on a private or institutional basis and subscription libraries, both private and commercial, proving the middle to upper class with a variety of books for moderate fees.The 18th century commercial subscription libraries were often created by booksellers who rented out extra copies of books. In 1790 it was estimated that there were some six hundred rental and lending libraries in the UK. Circulating libraries owners wanted to lend books as many times as they possibly could and these were often attached to the shops of milliners or drapers and served as a social meeting place as coffee shops do today. Private subscription libraries flourished with restricted membership and Booksellers often acted as librarians and received an honorarium for their pains. The Liverpool Subscription library was a gentlemen only library. In 1798, it was rebuilt with a newsroom and coffeehouseLast week there was a UK TV news article about a rural village who on losing their mobile library facility had taken over a disused old phone box and turned it into a book exchange where the villages could do precisely that exchange their books at any time. We also wrote about Amazon’s lending function on ebooks which starts to offer a host of potential opportunities. Finally, I sending a card to friends who live in a small village in the peak district we remembered their address as being a building called ‘The Reading Room.’ In the 19th century,The Reading Room’ served the community as a private library and it’s patron was the local landowner.
Today we look on the public library as a service funded and run by public funds but that has not always been the case and philanthropy has played a major part of shaping what we now regard as a public service. The early public libraries in the UK often were very local and not freely accessible to the public with the notable exception being the Chetham Library in Manchester opening in 1653 and claiming to be the oldest public library in the English-speaking world.
It wasn’t until the turn of the 18th century that libraries moved from a closed parochial model to lending libraries. Before this time, public libraries frequently chained their books to desks. There was in fact a wide network of library provision on a private or institutional basis and subscription libraries, both private and commercial, provided the middle and middle to upper class with a variety of books for moderate fees.The 18th century commercial subscription libraries were often created by booksellers who rented out extra copies of books and in 1790 it was estimated that there were some six hundred rental and lending libraries in the UK. Circulating libraries owners wanted to lend books as many times as they possibly could and these were often attached to the shops of milliners or drapers serving as a social meeting place as coffee shops do today. Private subscription libraries flourished with restricted membership. Booksellers often acted as librarians and received an honorarium for their pains. The Liverpool Subscription library was a gentlemen only library. In 1798, it was rebuilt with a newsroom and coffee-house and renamed the Athenaeum. It had an entrance fee of one guinea and annual subscription of five shillings.

The Public Libraries Act 1850 was the foundation of the modern public library system in the UK and at the time England had some 274 and Scotland, 266, subscription libraries. Norwich claims to being the first municipality to adopt the new Public Libraries Act. The Act allowed any municipal borough with a population of 100,000 or more, to introduce a halfpenny rate to establish public libraries, but not to buy books.

However, in both the UK and US private philanthropists such as Andrew Carnegie, Samuel Tilden and many others provided the seed capital and the push to get many libraries started. Carnegie envisioned that libraries would "bring books and information to all people." It is estimated that he donated over $60 million to the building of over 2,811 free public library buildings in the United States, where they were often known as Carnegie libraries. In many instances collectors also donated vast book collections to these libraries.

As the 20th century evolved and private philanthropy was hit by war and recession. As a result, Public libraries became more independent and publicly funded, lending books and materials freely, but charging fines if materials are returned late or damaged.

So we return to today, where we see public spending being increasingly squeezed and public libraries often under funded and under resourced. They are clearly struggling to get to grips with the digital challenges they now face in their, infrastructure, content, lending model, community presence and funding. We may not approve of the Google scanning programme in its commercial objectives, but support it in its social ones. With the return of philanthropy and social conscience, perhaps we should rethink the role and funding of public libraries within a more open public / private mix. Why should we regard borrowing as free? We can all learn from history and although we all often only see but a fraction of the actual facts, there are clear opportunities offered which may help create new; reading rooms, book exchanges and virtual libraries, all free from the public purse, or which at least ease the current burden upon it.

Many would go on blindly demanding on the universal right to 'free' and that the funding by public funds must be a given. However, some would now suggest that this needs to be seriously questioned if we are to avoid the questionable digital position adopted by the UK PA over electronic access, the handing over of public assets to Google and the potential challenges of digital subscription/circulation libraries outside of the public control. Could Amazon or Google Editions become the new digital subscription / circulation library?

Public Libraries: PA's Plan Fails to Join the Dots

We are pleased that the issue of free to lend from a public library, versus a fee to buy from a reseller has been brought out into the open today. This problem is one we have written about all year. The debate is long overdue but today’s Bookseller story ‘PA sets out restrictions on library e-book lending’ was quickly countered by a further one titled ‘Librarians worried by publisher e-book restrictions’ The stories cover the latest position adopted by the PA ( UK Publishers Association) at the CILIP Public Library Authorities conference in Leeds.

Stephen Page, CEO Faber and Faber, announced the new guidelines, telling delegates that "all the major trade publishers have agreed to work with aggregators to make it possible for libraries to offer e-book lending". However, users would only be able download an ebook from within the library's physical premises and via a computer terminal.

The plan would extend the fee paid by a library to buy a book and give them the right to loan one digital copy, to one individual at any given time.

We believe bringing the issue to the table is both timely and correct, but question whether the decision was forged in consultation with the libraries, or came down the mountain on tablets of stone. The problem is far from solved by the PA’s plan as it tries to shoe horn tomorrow’s digital world into yesterday’s physical practices.

Were the libraries consulted?

We fully agree that it doesn’t make sense to expose the reseller to a free offer from the libraries that they can’t compete with. However, it is equally ludicrous to tie the libraries hands behind the backs and pretend that ebooks are no different to pbooks and place restrictions on them. We now find that, one day after the big spending cuts were announced that the PA has clearly got their own way of cutting back on libraries. Some may feel that this move makes a mockery of all the support the industry has recently given libraries.

What is needed is a bit of common sense and above all communication between all parties.

This move will almost kill off the public library as a digital lender and further hasten its demise within these austere times. It is impossible to understand the logic of why downloads have to be via a library terminal. Hello, hasn’t anyone at the PA worked out what WiFi and 3G is yet? This tethering of the ebook download to the physical library building and terminal makes no sense at all. Even the much derided Margret Hodge offered more sense than this.

The answer is not easy but is not born out of a one sided perspective of life. Tying individuals to local public libraries is not an issue, it is done in many countries and systems today. Access and authorisation can be governed by the library system so that registration is maintained and auditable. It doesn’t matter where anyone is, it only matters that they are authorised. The only potential issue is with respect to inter library loans which may have to be restricted for ebooks, or incur a further fee payable to the rights owner.

So what about the thorny issue of ‘free.’

We are moving towards an online mobile and 'rental on demand' world. So why not allow libraries to ‘rent out’ as opposed to ‘loan’ to their members and charge a rental fee for any download. We have operated such a system in Denmark for libraries and similar systems are being proposed in other countries. Does anyone look outside of the UK and other than the US? The download can be easily protected, restricted to a specific time window and copying prohibited. This would allow libraries to rent out anything to an authorised member, at anytime and they simply pay a fee for the service and availability over the internet. Title rents can be collated and even contribute to improving the PLR deal to the author.

We realise that this a significant shift, which basically says pbooks are free in libraries and are restricted by the physical need for members to collect and return them, whilst digital ebooks offer added value and can be virtually rented, but for a fee. The beauty of the model is that is could also be offered to anyone including resellers, societies, institutions etc . Libraries then can use their communities and collective power to grow their service, whilst resellers and others can compete with online subscription and rental models as well as offering outright purchase of downloads.

This may appear far fetched to many who believe that libraries must remain free. There may also be other issues that need to be addressed. However, it could actually enable libraries to coexist and grow membership within a new wider commercial digital environment.

The question now is, whether all parties have the will to co-operate in order to find a solution that works for all.

Tomorrow's Libraries: Booked In

When we recently visited the Seoul Book Fair and reported on the automated library book dispenser and now we read about the inevitable automation and changes within library world.

First is Stanford's Engineering Library in the US, which has some 80,000 books but plan to cut this dramatically down to just 10,000 titles and move to an "electronic library" in a brand new Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center. The move has enabled them to radically rethink the library and after 3 years of planning the library opens this month. It is around 6,000 square feet compared to the old library’s 16,000 square feet and has an electronic reference desk with four Kindle 2 devices, a self-checkout and book security system and will have 15 ebook readers for patrons to take home like regular books. An online journal search tool will scan 28 online databases, have a grant directory and host more than 12,000 scientific journals. The library includes a digital bulletin board at the entry that will display RSS feeds updating visitors with the latest research.

Librarians will be available, but via email, online chatting and Facebook. The Association of Research Libraries reports that libraries are now spending more of their money on electronic resources and less on books.

Interestingly at the same time as Stanford embraces digital and change we learn that the UK public library in Harrow may introduce supermarket-style automated checkouts as Harrow Council looks for cost savings of around £1m a year. The change will introduce 22 book self service checkouts and force some 40 staff redundancies. A six-week consultation with library staff and unions has been started and a final recommendation is expected later in the year

So as libraries move into the digital age change is inevitable and will be far more reaching than the supply of ebooks. The core of the library, be it public, research, school, academic or corporate is being questioned. If self service prevails then the role of the librarian must change and their interfaces with the patrons change with it. The problem is that there is many cultural, technology and commercial issues and the driver of much change will be cost savings.

We believe that the library is a cornerstone of our society and culture but has lived too long trapped in yesterday’s thinking and practices and irrespective of financial constraints is ripe for change. We have reported the cost cutting across US and UK libraries and in the UK we have written a number of articles on ex Government minister Margret Hodge’s ‘Hodge Potch’ of ideas and the new government’s wary approach to change. However, as we have pointed out previously, there are significant issues not least that of ebook commercials and High Street conflict, author royalties, Inter library lending that must be discussed and resolved. The danger is we merely slip into hundreds of separate initiatives with few joined up dots and which are driven by today’s vested interested parties and not tomorrow’s patrons.

eBooks: Free From A Public Library Near You

We have raised the issue of the UK public library versus the High Street and seen little constructive movement. Some would argue that the publishers get paid whatever the outcome, the High Street hasn’t any muscle to defend itself and the libraries are desperate to justify their position in today’s let alone tomorrow’s world.

The issue is simple and is free versus pay. Many argue that the public will not go to a library, aren’t members and will opt for the convenience of the Internet. Others that to lend a ebook from your home connection is as easy as buying it online and cheaper as it’s free.

Today we read that Barnet Council's digital library in London has opened up its doors and joined a small but growing number of libraries going digital. Nearly 1,000 eBooks have been borrowed from their libraries since the new service was rolled out in February.

The surprising element of the offer was that the member can borrow 10 titles at any time and for up to 3 weeks. This means that the library believes that readers will want to consume a digital book every 2 days! The number offered free would appear a bit excessive as each title can only be borrowed by one person at a time. It would appear for more logical to allow one maybe two books at any time and also encourage early ‘returns’.

Libraries will go digital. The likes of Overdrive now offer multiple platform support and a large repository of digital titles. The result is that the consumer will find the free model from antwhere at any time very compelling. It could also accelerate the move from ownership to a borrow or rent offer.

So how do the reseller compete with a publicly funded free service? Will the author continue to be rewarded on the current PLR (Public Lending Right) model or see a better system directly related to borrowings? How will the new agency models compare on earnings?

To read the original Times article

Digital LibraryWorld: Please Whisper As You Order Your Skinny Latte

‘The books will be delivered by post. We want to change the mindset that books can only be borrowed at libraries and to provide better knowledge services… The library sector needs to be proactive in studying issues facing the community by creating new ideas to make our libraries world class... Books could be returned by contacting Pos Malaysia or by sending the books to selected post offices.’

No this isn't the latest quote from the UK government's review of libraries, but from the Director-General Raslin Abu Bakar of the National Library of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur talking about their initiative to provide online borrowing from July

So what about the UK review of public libraries?

Margaret Hodge, has delivered the UK government's 'The Modernisation Review of Public Libraries’.

As expected it proposes sweeping changes to UK libraries that go far further than Malaysia and many others.These include; proposing that membership should be not restricted to one library but provide access to all libraries, Starbucks and other franchises should be promoted within libraries, Sunday opening encouraged and free internet access enabled in all UK libraries by 2011. Hodge also intends to merge the existing library bodies into one and providing the capability for the Secretary of State to intervene in closures.

Importantly Library members should have the right to order any book, be it an out-of-print edition or an ebook.The government will impose a statutory ban on libraries charging for ebooks and also extend the public lending right to non-print books. So as expected we will see the head on clash between 'pay to read and own', versus 'free to loan from your armchair'.

Hodge repeats her new spin she used on Newsnight, "With more branches than McDonald's or Boots, and more visits to libraries than shoppers in London's West End, the public library network is a triumph of infrastructure and branding."

However, libraries face the real prospect of cuts and the review proposes more partnership working, and also suggests that libraries will need to depend on more volunteers. How will libraries fund any change and how will success be measured? Will ebooks offer the huge new opportunities sought or merely be starved of cash? Will PLR finance be raised or remain the same? How will authors fair out of these changes?

Ironically, The Times of India also reports today on their National Library of India’s programme to Offer eBooks and Other Electronic Resources. Currently, users have to wait for more than two hours to get a book, but now they will simply do it online. Their entire catalogue of 24 lakh of books would be available in the digital format online and includes rare published in the 17th and 18th centuries and also some 9,141 books published before 1900 in English and Indian languages.

So libraryworld is changing everywhere, membership and shelves are becoming virtual, and library's digital content service is being delivered to the home. The impact on these radical changes on publishing, authors and resellers has still to be understood and debated. However there is now a question of whether industry debate too late and change is already in motion?

Digital LibraryWorld: Where Have All The Readers Gone?

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review reports on the Shaler North Hills Library and their digital experiment planned for National Library Week in mid-Apri. Library members will be able to not only loan ebooks from their 18,000 collection, but a lucky few will also be able to borrow one of nine Amazon Kindle readers the library has bought for their members. The Shaler library has seen the number of users using their ebook service mushroom from 82 to 4,500.

Meanwhile here in the UK the Hampshire Library are the latest to offer free armchair reading. Their members merely need to validate themselves and Overdrive’s Pandora’s box opens for free. The files are still restricted from copying and printing, but they are free to read.

Last weekend we had two guest stop with us in London. One was from Kent and the other Shreswbury. Both were teachers, big readers and members of local reading groups. They didn’t buy books any more and were getting their reading group books for free from their library. The library even supplied a reading list for their groups to choose from and their reading schedule was planned out for the next few months. Obviously this is great for the libraries and publishers, but not so great for authors and resellers. Heavy readers are potentially being taken out of the buying chain, new potential readers are being introduced to spoon feeding from libraries and books that should be in circulation were ‘on reserve’. We are pleased to see active reading, we are pleased to see library resources being used, but we question the long term economic impact, its level of adoption today and where healthy promotion of reading becomes unhealthy resellers and authors.

The step from physical to digital reading groups, like the step from buying physical to loaning digital books is a small, but the implications may be far more wide reaching. There appears to be little or no debate and what there is, tends to be focused on the role of libraries and not digital publishing and business models. Perhaps publishers still sell books so have little need to be concerned today if a few more resellers go to the wall. However when digital has grown to say 15% on the market will it be too late? Are free to loan digital books from the armchair now a given public service and the digital future we predicted yesterday?

2020 Digital Vision: Imagine...

Today we find ourselves grappling with waves of digital change. Some we watch come ashore and treat within the natural ebb and flow of progress, others are big waves that just like the surfer we must master, others are like tsunamis and although we know their impact will be significant and disruptive, we are powerless to stop them and can’t predict the resultant landscape.

Today’s World

Everyday we read every day about another digital public library offer. It as if the publishing world has not woken up, or even thought about the implications, potential risks and opportunities. They are now positioning themselves, or being positioned, as an enabler of change. They are moving from the back of the queue to the front. Overnight they could become the digital place of choice. We are moving from bookshelves and bookstores, which were physically constrained, to ‘libraries’ and ‘repositories’ that are virtual. The mere words should tell us who is in the best position to appeal and meet the needs - after all it says library on the can.

We have seen huge technology leaps in a relatively short period of time and in a decade, the laptop now finds itself within a smartphone, netbook and tablet. We have seen the rise and predicted decline of the dedicated ebook reader. Some will say that they are still on the rise, but many have already swapped their allegiance to the new multi media mobile player and that is only the start of what is to come. Anyone who wishes to see the potential futures should look at the work of Panav Mistry. We guarantee they will be disappointed with today.

Communications is no longer the dirt track it was only a decade ago. Video and streaming has not, as predicted, killed the network, but rather has made the networks respond. Bandwidth we thought was impossible a short while ago, is rapidly coming to all.

The Gorillas have come to the media backyard and want to own it. Goggle, Apple, Microsoft are no longer start ups but formidable global corporations that are capable of rapid change and have the ruthless ability to acquire any upstarts. The media publishing giants of yesterday are still stuck in their media specific silos and are powerless to walk away from the tunes these multi media pipers play.

We no longer need to visit friends, have dinner party conversion, or even go out. The friends we didn’t even know we had, had forgotten and even those next door are now just a click away 24x7. We no longer go the social club it comes to us.

Finally, we are now in Andy Warhol’s ‘15 minutes of fame’ world. Yesterday the media restricted our ability to gain exposure and fame, but today the media is enabling it to happen in many ways. Self promotion, publishing and recognition are becoming less of who you know and more about knowing what to do.

Imagine

Let’s step forward a decade and gain some 2020 vision of what might happen and what the media world may look like.

We could finally break free of those technology boxes that have restricted our technology interface. No more PCs, netbooks, laptops even smartphones. We find ourselves in Pranav Mistry’s world of sixth sense devices. We can read off a blank piece of paper, project onto any surface, dial off the palm of our hands. Touchscreens were just the beginning of expressing ourselves intuitively and not through a keyboard.

Citizenship has been reinvented and now anyone can access anything for free via their citizenship. Libraries are virtual. The power of the developed world lies in the power they have to connect, share information and media resource and create social networks. The key is to gain conformity not through exclusivity but inclusivity. Goods and services are still traded, but digital media is now available to citizens on demand.

Content is not owned but on demand. Finding the digital needle in the digital haystack is where the power lies and Context not Content is key. Digital piracy was defeated not by DRM, DMCA or law, but by making content free through the public library. Why buy when it’s free from the nearest cloud? Pirates can’t compete with free.

The world of iCreate, iPublish and iDemand has changed the economics of much of media. Content has effectively been democratised. Rewards are still there and the public coffers have been expanded to pay out more on lending and through collection agencies. The power has shifted back upstream to the creator and downstream to the few aggregators who dominate the supply.

You may think we are dreamers, but we guarantee that we are not the only ones.

Digital LibraryWorld Part 3: Digital Supply

As Public libraries go digital what will be the challenges to publishers and the supply of digital content?

The physical supply chain requires many value added extras such as plastic dust jackets, library stamps, library metadata etc. From this has grown a supply service that is geared to providing these services to the libraries. The Good Library Blog wrote last week that library suppliers have agreed physical book supply contracts at 47.5% discount off the cover price of books. The provisos are that the supplier can make the selection of which books are supplied and that these contracts apply to all the books supplied. The supplier will select the best, most appropriate books for the local library. The value of supply contracts is claimed at £90m per annum.

However, does the same logic prevail in the digital world?

In the digital world what is the starting price?

Do libraries need specialist aggregators?

Today the supply of digital books to library patrons can be achieved through an aggregated service such as Overdrive, or through national aggregated services such as eBog.dk , Numilog, onleihe, or technology platforms such as Google, Apple, Adobe and even players such as Amazon and other retail aggregators. Its merely about search discovery, library system integration and authentication, access and content delivery. In fact why can’t libraries get their digital content direct on demand from many sources including publishers?

So why would any library, or consortia, put all their bets on any one player today?

One of the challenges publishers and others face is the integration into the library systems and the supply of contextual information. Many choose to avoid these issues and supply through an wholesaler and in doing so, operate on the same model as in the physical world. However today many digital suppliers players only operate in the digital world and maybe those that operate in both don’t offer the best digital solution. The question of who is best suited to supply digital is not just a library one, but a publisher one too.

Content is king and Libraryworld wants, antiquarian, public domain, back list and front list, in essence every book ever published. Why shouldn’t every library give their patrons access to national or global collections? They are no longer driven by buying every hardback as an ebook lasts for ever and doesn’t get worn out and need replacement. No need for special jacket services or library stamps in a digital world.

So how will the commercial model change? What price will the model be based on? How will usage be charged? What restrictions will be applied to concurrent usage or the number of copies licensed? Will there be license restrictions on inter library loans. Although a different environment, the way in which publishers deal with institutional consortia and libraries may offer some insights. Can publishers now supply direct and work around the intermediary?

The context information supply and library system issues are, or should no longer be obstacles.

Every library should have an open approach to content delivery and recognise the ability to lend on demand.

Just as publishers are having to grapple with a digital reseller channel they now also have to grapple with a digital library channel and how they price, sell, promote and deliver to it.

Next we will look at the thorny issue of retail versus library, pay versus free, market driven versus subsidised, purchase versus rent and royalties versus PLR.

Hodge-Potch of a Library Policy

In our New Year Predictions we made reference to the opportunities and dangers that face the digital public library in the UK. We have written previously on the views expressed by the UK Minister, Margaret Hodge who wants to modernise libraries and enable them to compete with Amazon, embrace the online age and even sell books. She wants for them to be more relevant and vital in today’s digital world, to offer a service to match our 24/7 culture and grasp the wide remit of digital opportunities on offer. However, she also wants to do this within the current limited public funding constraints and resource base. Interestingly she fails to state what she would see as a measure of success other than merely increasing the numbers of users using the service or what some may say is bean counting.

So why has library funding been increasingly squeezed at a time she wants to modernise it? How does she expect the existing library resources to adjust to her Brave New World, after all are librarians or information officers to now be known as booksellers? Should a public services become a commercial one with so little consultation? Are those prime real estate locations which libraries currently occupy the real asset to be sold? Why are government only now starting to extend PLR to digital and will the size of the money pot grow or remain as today? Who does she want to embrace; authors, publishers, retailers or the public?

We would love to know where was Margaret Hodge was Google revised its book settlement to include the UK?

The Library is a fundamental public service which is free to access and borrow. Its model is in direct conflict with the commercial online and high street retail one of pay to buy or rent model. The implications and differences go even further back up the supply chain and there are significant implications on commercials, royalties, rights and much more. It’s a pity that Margaret Hodge clearly only sees the counter and number of visitors and fails to understand the business she is supposed to be guardian of.

We would urge every publisher, author, agent, bookseller and librarian to write to her and remind her there is a general election looming this year and its perhaps time to go.

National Digital Library Tickets?

The Bookseller today covers the UK shadow culture secretary Ed Vaizey thoughts on their , "Renaissance for Libraries". Much of what he says makes a great deal of sense but one line drew our breath. He is reported as saying that they would also bring in a national library card, allowing library users to borrow books from any library in the UK.

This would obviously throw up some interesting issues on physical books being borrowed and not returned and the whole issue of the cost and implications re recovery but that apart it also throws the libraries into potentially direct conflict with retail in the digital world. Here the stock is virtual, the registration central and the reality is that a user would be able to access anything without leaving their armchair or paying a penny for it.

We have asked before about this clear clash of business models that has always been there but is now becoming greater under the digital umbrella. Can libraries sell books on rental under their royal charter and if so what is the difference between a bookstore and what could become the UK’s largest chain? If they can’t sell and lend them as current, what is the incentive for any consumer to buy a download when they get it for free?

Importantly how are authors to be rewarded if the library digital lendings increase? Do they share a pot of money such as PLR which is capped, or do they get paid a real royalty per transaction?

There is nothing wrong with sorting out the library system which is not broken but in need of some attention and TLC but we must recognise the conflicts and other changes that need to be considered and in doing so ensure we develop the service and reward the creators. This is a glass half full with masses of new opportunities for all, but we don’t know what we don’t know and every move has an implication.