Recently the Library held a workshop on using devices such
as the Kindle, Nook and iPad to access our collection of e-books and other
digital content. Over 100 people showed
up! But access to and facility in using
new hardware is only part of the e-book puzzle.
Publishers are struggling to find a workable business model
for making their books available in digital format. Most troubling for libraries is a host of
restrictions on where and how readers can acquire e-content. Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Penguin
do not sell e-book versions of their titles to libraries at all, and
HarperCollins limits an e-book purchased by a library to 26 readings, and then
a new “copy” must be purchased. Others
have increased the library purchase price of an e-book to several times the
price paid by an individual consumer.
What this means is that library patrons will be forced to
purchase e-books, often from retailers with near monopoly power, instead of
being able to share these resources within their communities, as they now do
with printed books. Visit www.ridgefieldlibrary.org for links
to some insightful articles on this situation and how you can help shape the
future of e-books in libraries.
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