Quote:
Originally Posted by MGlitch
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.
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You seem to be arguing that hardly anyone is going to check it out. If so, why bother to limit the library to only one copy in that time? The publisher seems to think that the checkouts in the first few months _are_ a problem.
I get the feeling that this policy is driven by the big hits; those books that everyone is talking about and that everyone wants to read together. The embargo is probably meant to cover the period of those books' popularity, thus forcing more sales when the books are a cultural phenomenon. From the libraries viewpoint, it may not make sense to obtain one copy and then see how many people put it on hold during that period. They aren't going to get an adequate number of copies until the hype starts to cool down, so why not just wait until then before offering it up for borrowing? A lot of people who wanted it when everyone was talking about a book won't want it afterwards, because they only read the odd book when it is hot. For them, it will be a wasted loan. Put the book up for borrowing only when you can get the number you need, and decide then what number you should buy based on demand at that time. That seems like a sensible reason to not offer a book for borrowing during the embargo period.