[HN Gopher] Publishers worry as ebooks fly off libraries' virtua...
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Publishers worry as ebooks fly off libraries' virtual shelves
Author : headalgorithm
Score : 30 points
Date : 2020-10-01 11:43 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.wired.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.wired.com)
| matthewmcg wrote:
| This has been a godsend for us with a young reader that loves
| series books ( _Boxcar Children_ and the like) and our library
| closed for in person visits. There are literally hundreds of
| titles in some of these series, so she can pretty much always
| find one to read or re-read, even if most of them are checked
| out.
|
| I would dispute that this hurts sales--at least for us. The long
| hold times and 2-week checkout limit mean that I'll often buy the
| ebook to complete it or read it without waiting in the queue.
| Mindless2112 wrote:
| I'm more concerned for the libraries. They lose their ebooks
| after 2 years or 26/52 checkouts? Physical books can last for
| decades and innumerable checkouts if you have respectful patrons
| -- long enough that libraries eventually sell off old books to
| get shelf space for new ones.
| thomaslangston wrote:
| Do you have a reference for that?
|
| My previous experience working at a library and a brief web
| search leads me to believe 26 checkouts is significantly above
| average for a hardback lifespan.
| _fs wrote:
| In the last few months, me and my family have taken advantage of
| both Libby, for primarily audiobooks, and Hoopla, for children's
| books. Both were available through my library. To increase my
| ability to get books, I even registered for library accounts in
| several metropolitan districts near my house, and Libby is happy
| to accommodate, letting me place holds across multiple library
| systems.
|
| Before I never really liked reading childrens books on my Ipad,
| but with cool features like read along, me and the kids have been
| enjoying 1-2 rentals a night.
| clankyclanker wrote:
| Can we stop with the "access to copies for which the publisher is
| being paid less per access kills markets" shtick already?
|
| It's been twenty plus years since Napster and the only sourced
| data I've seen, that isn't simply publishers' hypothetical
| handwringing, says that exposure creates desire and increases the
| size of the purchase market over a several year span. Tech dirt
| had a few stories, iirc.
| Aerroon wrote:
| This just seems like a bizarre worry to me. I wonder whether
| these kinds of lending schemes might not have kept piracy at bay
| when it comes to digital books. Obviously piracy exists, but it
| appears to be much less common than in other forms of media.
| Worrying about people legally _borrowing_ books seems like a much
| smaller worry.
| adventured wrote:
| I'm surprised I rarely see concern for virtual book sharing
| killing off the vast US public library system that has so far -
| and rather remarkably - successfully survived the mass use of the
| Internet and rise of Amazon's Kindle. That public library system
| is a national treasure and needs to be protected.
|
| If virtual book sharing becomes very common online, the majority
| of public libraries will die. It'll consolidate down to a smaller
| number of large public libraries that do the lending. Even if
| just half of small public libraries close, it'll be an enormous
| cultural tragedy. It's common for small towns and cities in the
| US to have public libraries, they're invaluable resources and
| part of our national heritage. I'd rather not see our national
| public book stock and access relegated to further intense
| centralization.
|
| I grew up in a smaller town in Appalachia, we had a great public
| library and we were fortunate to have it. It was on the larger
| side and mostly well run. Everyone used it, everyone had a
| library card as a rite of passage. It also had community value
| far beyond the book utility value. (I use the past tense for my
| own experience, however it's still a fully operational library)
| mumblemumble wrote:
| > If virtual book sharing becomes very common online, the
| majority of public libraries will die.
|
| As long as their mission is allowed to change with the times, I
| don't see this as an inevitability. Supposedly my local public
| library has seen usage of library resources continue to
| increase even as people check out fewer physical books. My
| cousin, who is a librarian for a different city, reports the
| same thing - at least pre-pandemic, her library was busier than
| ever.
| smogcutter wrote:
| 100%. I've also noticed libraries branching into other services
| that fit their mission. The library in Glendale, CA, for
| example, has a maker space with a publicly accessible 3d
| printer. Things like that, that are educational, and have
| public value but a high capital cost of entry for individuals,
| are a great fit for libraries. There are even libraries where
| you can check out hand tools and the like.
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(page generated 2020-10-02 23:00 UTC)