Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomk2
I believe McMillan treats an entire library system with many branches as one entity for the embargo period. Thus, the entire city of New York would get only one ebook copy for the millions who live there? Not even one ebook for each branch. This is not enough product for the services and demand library clients expect. They aren't asking for a handout, they want to buy ebooks for their clients.
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There are actually three library systems within NYC. NYC Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and Queens Public Library. Manhattan, Bronx, and Staten Island (I think) are all part of NYPL, Brooklyn and Queens are both unique entities with their own catalogs.
There are, approximately, 8.55 million people in NYC. So assuming even distribution that's 2.85 per branch. I can't find figures for how many ebooks specifically are checked out a year, the only figure I found stated the combined libraries saw 8.8 million check outs, though it was not clear if this was physical and ebook. Either way it's barely more than one book per person per year. Which says to me that it's more likely large amounts of the population are not checking books out at all, while a smaller selection check out some, and a still smaller check out many. Then you also have to remember that not everyone is going to want the same book. Finally it's only one book for a short window, and then it's however many the library wishes to buy.
So claims of "one book can't possibly serve a population the size of NYC" are arguably true, assuming that it was really only one book and that everyone wanted it, but neither of those are the case. Reducing that argument to hyperbolic rhetoric.