Quote:
Originally Posted by Worldwalker
Why should public libraries treat electronic books different from paper ones? They lend out paper books, why can't they lend out electronic books? (note: the only library books that physically wear out are high-circulation paperbacks)
I already pay for my public library; I should not have to pay a second time to borrow books from it.
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Electronic books are different then paper books so I don't believe they should be limited with the same restrictions. They cost almost nothing to store.
If library A has an annual budget of $120K for purchasing new books and library B has an annual budget of $12K for purchasing new books, then somebody has to sit down each month and decide which physical books they can purchase and how many of each they can make available. People aren't perfect at forecasting so they buy books that nobody borrows and they don't buy enough copies of books in demand. Library B doesn't have as much money so they can't have the same selection. Why do we have to do this with electronic books?
My understanding is that the Overdrive system we're using today emulates the physical book model. Library A gets a larger catalog of books to lend to their patrons and more concurrent copies and library B gets a smaller catalog of ebooks and less concurrent copies. The libraries like this because it's what they understand.
Why can't they have the same catalog of books and pay each time an ebook is borrowed instead? If library B has 1/10th the patrons then they're paying the same amount per patron but providing a much better service. The libraries continue to limit concurrent copies of popular books and the total number of copies of non public domain ebooks lent in a month. If they're paying $4 each time an ebook is borrowed then library A could lend 2,500 copyright protected ebooks a month and library B could lend 250 a month. If they don't lend that many then they can lend more the next month. People would still have to wait for the book to be available, same as today.
I'm not suggesting that the library patrons pay each time they borrow a book. The libraries can lend an unlimited number of public domain books but they would continue to be limited in the number of copyright protected books they can lend.