This is an interesting contrast to what Tor announced last month.
From the
story in the
American Libraries Magazine blog:
Quote:
This week’s news from Penguin Random House (PRH) represents a new and major development in the library ebook market. Unlike the terrible shift in lending policy announced in July by Tor and Macmillan Publishers, PRH’s change is neutral or even a bit positive for US libraries, although the impact on any specific library will depend on its circumstances.
PRH has shifted from a perpetual licensing model (by which each copy can be loaned indefinitely) to a time-limited model. Starting in October, licenses for any PRH ebook titles that public, school, and special libraries acquire will expire after two years. The terms for academic libraries are unchanged. No embargos will be imposed—all library access to ebooks will remain concurrent with general market release.
PRH is reducing its fees for the US market so that the maximum price for an adult-oriented title will be lowered to $55 from $65. Titles for youth and children will cost $45 and $35 respectively.
This reduction will enable more libraries to lend PRH titles generally, especially those on the backlist. For many popular titles, libraries do not need to keep multiple copies more than two years, allowing for an additional cost savings. For some titles, the two-year term serves as an automatic way to weed copies of ebooks that are no longer wanted.
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