Swedish libraries stop lending out ebooks

[owly]

The cost of lending ebooks for Swedish libraries have escalated so much that some Swedish libraries have been forced to stop lending them out and many libraries have restricted how many people get to borrow per week.

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Original article (in Swedish)

[little and large]

That seems surprising. I imagine that setting up the systems for ebook lends in the first instance might prove expensive, but after that I'd have thought it would settle down. I'd be interested to find out more.

[speakingtohe]

Not having a clue about how Swiss libraries work I am a bit in the dark here. The translation did not seem to give a reason for the financial burden. Not enough books? Too few or too many borrowers?

Pretty sure no one needs ebooks to survive, although I appreciate the luxury of course.

Helen

[tilia]

The article didn't mention how ebook lending is set up in Sweden(not Switzerland). Swedish libraries use a different system than most libraries (that I know of at least). Instead of buying/leasing titles that can then be lend out to one person at a time, they pay per loan. So there is no waiting lines, but the library have to pay every time a book is borrowed.

I seem to remember reading that some libraries have set a budget for ebooks per month, and if it's exceeded early in the month, then there's no more ebooks for anyone until next month.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by tilia

Instead of buying/leasing titles that can then be lend out to one person at a time, they pay per loan. So there is no waiting lines, but the library have to pay every time a book is borrowed.

Sounds like the system Macmillan floated at one time for US borrowing (except IIRC they wanted libraries to buy the title and pay per checkout), but US libraries said no way, not with the way their budgets are.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by tilia

The article didn't mention how ebook lending is set up in Sweden(not Switzerland). Swedish libraries use a different system than most libraries (that I know of at least). Instead of buying/leasing titles that can then be lend out to one person at a time, they pay per loan. So there is no waiting lines, but the library have to pay every time a book is borrowed.

I seem to remember reading that some libraries have set a budget for ebooks per month, and if it's exceeded early in the month, then there's no more ebooks for anyone until next month.

Yes it is something like $3 a book and loan. When famous soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic released his biography the system broke down. There were thousands of loans from small rural libraries that had absolutely no budget for an onslaught like that. When the library association went into this deal e-Readers were essentially an oddity (still is I believe) but they hadn't counted on the proliferation of smartphones and tablets.