Quote:
Originally Posted by samhy
I was pretty sure that paper books were indeed more expensive when bought by a library. Maybe as a way to compensate for the lesser sells.
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They're actually less expensive. Libraries tend not to pay retail price for p-books. This is one of the many reasons why libraries are not pleased about the prices they pay for e-books.
As for a model that could be used, I think academic presses and libraries provide a good model. Usually academic libraries buy a license for journals and e-books and then those journals and e-books can be accessed by unlimited patrons for a certain amount of time (i.e. a year). Since public libraries are paying 5-6 times more for a single license than an individual customer, I fail to see why they can't loan out a book on a single license an unlimited number of times for a limited time with an offer to renew the license at the end of the time period.