Libraries not carrying as many ebooks

octoberdana · 08-07-2011, 05:46 PM

So I spent quite a bit of time today looking for some of the NY Times bestsellers on overdrive. I belong to two libraries that allow ebook lending. I noticed that nearly all the bestsellers were only available on audio books in WMA format and that there is no epub or pdf format to check out.

Are the publisher restrictions causing libraries to not get ebooks or is this normal?

rdfry · 08-07-2011, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by octoberdana

So I spent quite a bit of time today looking for some of the NY Times bestsellers on overdrive. I belong to two libraries that allow ebook lending. I noticed that nearly all the bestsellers were only available on audio books in WMA format and that there is no epub or pdf format to check out.

Are the publisher restrictions causing libraries to not get ebooks or is this normal?

It depends on who the publisher of the Hardcover is. Macmillan, Simon and Shuster and their subsidiaries won't allow libraries to lend their ebooks. Harper Collins has instituted 26 lends on their new releases before requiring repurchase and Overdrive has said that this is not acceptable so they are not purchasing new Harper Collins books

pidgeon92 · 08-07-2011, 06:35 PM

I'd rephrase that perhaps to say Libraries are not purchasing as many ebooks. I don't think the number of titles the libraries carry has gone down.

Bookworm_Girl · 08-07-2011, 10:39 PM

It could be your specific libraries. My library has been increasing its available titles as well as the quantities for bestsellers to reduce wait-times. I would send an email to your library and tell them what books you would like to see added. I know that my library listens to their patrons.

Are the books that you are interested in available in ebook? Sometimes there may be a delay between hardcovers and ebook availability. This problem seems to be improved since agency pricing was implemented. Also sometimes there is a lag-time between when a book is on the NYT list and when it shows up in my library. I am sure they are gauging how popular the book is to determine if it is worth the acquisition costs. Some authors they stock right away and others might take several weeks or months to show up.

Fbone · 08-08-2011, 03:36 AM

My library removes older titles when they add new ones. So the total number has not increased all year. A neighboring library cooperative will be beta testing the 3M system soon and they haven't increased their inventory since last year.

Your library could be facing budget cuts or rethinking their Overdrive commitment.

mldavis2 · 08-08-2011, 09:02 AM

It looks to me that, if the 26-lend limit is adopted by all publishers, library budgets will dry up with the looming, ongoing economic crisis and they will soon run out of eBook credits for popular books unless they ante up more dollars to renew. Budgets being what they are, and being cut as they are now and most certainly will be in the foreseeable future, I suspect this artificial lending limit will soon cause a decrease in eBook availability in library listings. Hopefully that loss of revenue will trickle back to the publishers and force them to realize that there never was a lend-limit on pBooks. Alas, short term profits trump long term planning.

My own little local county library was able to afford an online subscription service only because of a generous benefactor who was able to pay the fee for the current year. Next year may well be different and we could lose the service. It's not cheap, and it's not in the budget.

I wonder if publishers are trying to make it inconvenient, costly and difficult to market eBooks because it deprives them of their huge profits in the pBook market. I've noted an increase in activity on book catalog and review sites such as Goodreads and LibraryThing where users are offering pBooks to other readers online in an exchange format. Aside from a bit of shipping, this is an excellent way to share pBooks and avoid having to purchase a DRM'd eBook for each title you want to read.

The process of sharing with DRM'd eBooks is illegal, of course. Consequently I have purchased more pBooks, against my will and better judgement in aiding and abetting the publishers, and have begun to create a few networks for trading pBooks. This effectively reduces my eBook purchases due to the inability to share them with non-family friends, the so-called Amazon "lending" procedure notwithstanding.

As money becomes tighter and library budgets are slashed (i.e. "let 'em go buy a book if they want to read"), consumers will gravitate to the least costly alternative - sharing. These are the things that drive the illegal removal of DRM, and place library patrons in a bind. The pBook sharing networks seem to be growing as library eShelves are shrinking. Given budget woes, what library would pay for online services that keep patrons out of the library when they can maintain an adequate shelf of pBooks that retain customer contact and can be loaned indefinitely? And what library wouldn't gladly accept hardback gifts of pBooks for free from patrons when eBooks can never be transferred?

SleepyBob · 08-08-2011, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fbone

My library removes older titles when they add new ones. So the total number has not increased all year. A neighboring library cooperative will be beta testing the 3M system soon and they haven't increased their inventory since last year.

Your library could be facing budget cuts or rethinking their Overdrive commitment.

Why would they remove old titles? OverDrive doesn't charge a per-book storage fee, does it?

elemenoP · 08-08-2011, 12:02 PM

Use this page to search all of Overdrive:

http://search.overdrive.com/classic/

You can see if the titles are available in epub or not, if other libraries in your country have them.

eP

SeaBookGuy · 08-08-2011, 03:10 PM

I've used that search function to request my library add ebooks and audiobooks from it, with great success!

rkomar · 08-08-2011, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mldavis2

...And what library wouldn't gladly accept hardback gifts of pBooks for free from patrons when eBooks can never be transferred?

I've been told that the library here in Vancouver is not allowed to put donated books on the shelves. The donated books are just added to the withdrawn library books in their fund-raising book sales.

elemenoP · 08-08-2011, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

I've used that search function to request my library add ebooks and audiobooks from it, with great success!

Yup, that's what I use it for too!

eP

Fbone · 08-08-2011, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SleepyBob

Why would they remove old titles? OverDrive doesn't charge a per-book storage fee, does it?

Their annual administration fees may depend on library size and usage. Thus a smaller inventory may reduce their annual costs.

My library cooperative doesn't purchase the ebooks from Overdrive.They lease them on a subscription basis.

sassanik · 08-08-2011, 06:07 PM

It could be a budget issue, they could have a annual, semi-annual or quarterly budget, and once that is spent they can't buy more ebooks. So you could be in a time period where they are simply waiting for the next chunk of money to free up.

Amy

Loosheesh · 08-08-2011, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

I've used that search function to request my library add ebooks and audiobooks from it, with great success!

Great tip! I usually use the library's Contact Us page to make catalog suggestions but I'll give this method a try next time around

elemenoP · 08-08-2011, 06:28 PM

I don't know that there's any way to actually contact the library from that search page, but it does allow you to find out if the book you want is actually available as a library ebook before you request it.

eP

08-07-2011, 05:46 PM	#1
octoberdana Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 40000 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Nook Touch, Kindle Touch	Libraries not carrying as many ebooks So I spent quite a bit of time today looking for some of the NY Times bestsellers on overdrive. I belong to two libraries that allow ebook lending. I noticed that nearly all the bestsellers were only available on audio books in WMA format and that there is no epub or pdf format to check out. Are the publisher restrictions causing libraries to not get ebooks or is this normal?

08-08-2011, 06:07 PM	#13
sassanik Guru Posts: 774 Karma: 1211741 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Oregon Device: EB1150, iPhone, Cool-er Purple, Pocketbook 360, Kindle Fire	budget It could be a budget issue, they could have a annual, semi-annual or quarterly budget, and once that is spent they can't buy more ebooks. So you could be in a time period where they are simply waiting for the next chunk of money to free up. Amy

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08-07-2011, 06:35 PM	#3
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	I'd rephrase that perhaps to say Libraries are not purchasing as many ebooks. I don't think the number of titles the libraries carry has gone down.

08-07-2011, 10:39 PM	#4
Bookworm_Girl E-reader Enthusiast Posts: 4,871 Karma: 36507503 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Southwest, USA Device: Kindle Oasis 3; Kobo Aura One; iPad Mini 5	It could be your specific libraries. My library has been increasing its available titles as well as the quantities for bestsellers to reduce wait-times. I would send an email to your library and tell them what books you would like to see added. I know that my library listens to their patrons. Are the books that you are interested in available in ebook? Sometimes there may be a delay between hardcovers and ebook availability. This problem seems to be improved since agency pricing was implemented. Also sometimes there is a lag-time between when a book is on the NYT list and when it shows up in my library. I am sure they are gauging how popular the book is to determine if it is worth the acquisition costs. Some authors they stock right away and others might take several weeks or months to show up.

08-08-2011, 03:36 AM	#5
Fbone Is that a sandwich? Posts: 8,189 Karma: 100500000 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Nook Glowlight Plus	My library removes older titles when they add new ones. So the total number has not increased all year. A neighboring library cooperative will be beta testing the 3M system soon and they haven't increased their inventory since last year. Your library could be facing budget cuts or rethinking their Overdrive commitment.

08-08-2011, 09:02 AM	#6
mldavis2 Coffee Nut Posts: 410 Karma: 298350 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Missouri Device: Kindle 3; K4PC; Calibre	It looks to me that, if the 26-lend limit is adopted by all publishers, library budgets will dry up with the looming, ongoing economic crisis and they will soon run out of eBook credits for popular books unless they ante up more dollars to renew. Budgets being what they are, and being cut as they are now and most certainly will be in the foreseeable future, I suspect this artificial lending limit will soon cause a decrease in eBook availability in library listings. Hopefully that loss of revenue will trickle back to the publishers and force them to realize that there never was a lend-limit on pBooks. Alas, short term profits trump long term planning. My own little local county library was able to afford an online subscription service only because of a generous benefactor who was able to pay the fee for the current year. Next year may well be different and we could lose the service. It's not cheap, and it's not in the budget. I wonder if publishers are trying to make it inconvenient, costly and difficult to market eBooks because it deprives them of their huge profits in the pBook market. I've noted an increase in activity on book catalog and review sites such as Goodreads and LibraryThing where users are offering pBooks to other readers online in an exchange format. Aside from a bit of shipping, this is an excellent way to share pBooks and avoid having to purchase a DRM'd eBook for each title you want to read. The process of sharing with DRM'd eBooks is illegal, of course. Consequently I have purchased more pBooks, against my will and better judgement in aiding and abetting the publishers, and have begun to create a few networks for trading pBooks. This effectively reduces my eBook purchases due to the inability to share them with non-family friends, the so-called Amazon "lending" procedure notwithstanding. As money becomes tighter and library budgets are slashed (i.e. "let 'em go buy a book if they want to read"), consumers will gravitate to the least costly alternative - sharing. These are the things that drive the illegal removal of DRM, and place library patrons in a bind. The pBook sharing networks seem to be growing as library eShelves are shrinking. Given budget woes, what library would pay for online services that keep patrons out of the library when they can maintain an adequate shelf of pBooks that retain customer contact and can be loaned indefinitely? And what library wouldn't gladly accept hardback gifts of pBooks for free from patrons when eBooks can never be transferred?

08-08-2011, 12:02 PM	#8
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	Use this page to search all of Overdrive: http://search.overdrive.com/classic/ You can see if the titles are available in epub or not, if other libraries in your country have them. eP

08-08-2011, 03:10 PM	#9
SeaBookGuy Can one read too much? Posts: 2,015 Karma: 2487799 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Naples, FL Device: Kindle PW 3, Sony 350 and 650	I've used that search function to request my library add ebooks and audiobooks from it, with great success!

08-08-2011, 06:28 PM	#15
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	I don't know that there's any way to actually contact the library from that search page, but it does allow you to find out if the book you want is actually available as a library ebook before you request it. eP

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