Should Libraries Charge for eBooks?

[rdfry]

Sorry I already pay enough monthly fees. The library should never become a subscription service period.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Harmon

Well, that's the public library mission, I suppose. But that's only one model for lending libraries, and perhaps it doesn't work well for ebooks. For one thing, in order to lend ebooks to "lower income" people, it would probably be necessary to lend EBRs as well.

Unless they have computers in their homes, which are increasingly becoming necessary even in low-income areas just to cope with work & school requirements.

You don't need a dedicated device (which can be as cheap as $80) to read library ebooks.

That gets a little problematical - although these days, LIP seem to have tvs & dvd players to play the dvds the public library lends out here in Chicago.

One-time expenses that cover the family's entertainment are a lot cheaper than paying for sports tickets, museum visits, movies in the theatre, vacation camping and amusement park trips. Used TVs start at about $25, or free if a friend or relative is getting the new HD super-function model and is generous with their old one. New 19" TVs start at $125. New DVD players start at under $20.

I can imagine an ebook lending library model which charged for lending ebooks, either on a per checkout basis, or via a monthly or annual subscription, ala Netflix.

People have been begging for a subscription-rental ebook system for years. Publishers won't go for it. It's possible the problem with ebook borrowing fees is copyright & licensing, not whether library patrons could afford it.

Once they've bought a physical book, the copyright owner can't declare whether it can be resold or rented. But "buying" an ebook is a different matter, and the original is somewhere on a hard drive, not being handed over to the customer.

[old goat]

As an author/publisher of ebooks I'm in favor of libraries charging a small fee for ebooks, and not because I can make a handsome profit (I make $0.30 - $0.50 on the majority of my $0.99 ebooks sold online now).

Libraries can't continue to depend upon government financing to exist, and they certainly don't earn enough money from library cards or late fees to cover their overhead.

Personally, I'd rather see the profit presently kept by retailers and distributors for my ebooks go to support libraries.

As for free books, I'd be more than happy to provide some of my ebooks to a library for free after they've been at retailers for a few years and I've earned something for my effort.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by old goat

As an author/publisher of ebooks I'm in favor of libraries charging a small fee for ebooks, and not because I can make a handsome profit (I make $0.30 - $0.50 on the majority of my $0.99 ebooks sold online now).

Libraries can't continue to depend upon government financing to exist, and they certainly don't earn enough money from library cards or late fees to cover their overhead.

Personally, I'd rather see the profit presently kept by retailers and distributors for my ebooks go to support libraries.

As for free books, I'd be more than happy to provide some of my ebooks to a library for free after they've been at retailers for a few years and I've earned something for my effort.

So your worried about library financing and you think the government funding can't keep it afloat and it's all up to us to pitch in for the greater good...

...but until you've made a pretty profit on YOUR books, those libraries are gonna have to pay for the privilege to carry you in their catalog?

Interesting.

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

With tighter budgets, libraries are feeling the crunch and are being forced into cutting back on services and even closing down some of their branches. With that in mind, would you be willing to pay a yearly fee ($25~$50) to checkout ebooks, music, videos and other e-content? Fees collected would only be used to support e-content. All other library services would remain "free".

This library in New Zealand is about to go live with ebooks, but will charge patrons for the service.

That is obscene charge for a limited read?

[old goat]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

So your worried about library financing and you think the government funding can't keep it afloat and it's all up to us to pitch in for the greater good...

...but until you've made a pretty profit on YOUR books, those libraries are gonna have to pay for the privilege to carry you in their catalog?

Interesting.

Libraries pay for books and magazines and games and movies and all the other items available for library members, but you want YOUR ebooks to be provided for free? Now that is interesting.

If a library has my ebook, pays me $0.30 - $0.50 royalty for it, and loans it out 100,000 times, how am I making a pretty profit?

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by old goat

Libraries pay for books and magazines and games and movies and all the other items available for library members, but you want YOUR ebooks to be provided for free? Now that is interesting.

If a library has my ebook, pays me $0.30 - $0.50 royalty for it, and loans it out 100,000 times, how am I making a pretty profit?

Your social contract with civilization allows you to profit from your book - period.

Making writings available - including to libraries - for the benefit of society is part of a mutual agreement from which authors recieve the benefit of copywrite protection in a reciprocal relationship.

Its a two way contract, you break your part and society owes you zero access to the legal system to enforce exclusivity for your work.

Under what basis did you think copywrite operated?

[old goat]

Originally Posted by Phogg

Your social contract with civilization allows you to profit from your book - period.

Making writings available - including to libraries - for the benefit of society is part of a mutual agreement from which authors recieve the benefit of copywrite protection in a reciprocal relationship.

Its a two way contract, you break your part and society owes you zero access to the legal system to enforce exclusivity for your work.

Under what basis did you think copywrite operated?

I completely agree. If an electronic book is available for the benefit of society, then the social contract isn't broken.

I believe you meant copyright.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by old goat

Libraries can't continue to depend upon government financing to exist,

Sez who?

It might be *harder* to fund libraries when you have 10% unemployment, perhaps, but my community finds a way to come up with over $40 million dollars *every year* for libraries. The library's funding last year was $300,000 below their budget; as a consequence they reduced hours and some services. But the existence of the library is not in doubt - they have been a government supported institution for the past 140 years and I don't think that will change any time soon.

[old goat]

Originally Posted by old goat: "Libraries can't continue to depend upon government financing to exist."

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

Sez who?

It might be *harder* to fund libraries when you have 10% unemployment, perhaps, but my community finds a way to come up with over $40 million dollars *every year* for libraries. The library's funding last year was $300,000 below their budget; as a consequence they reduced hours and some services. But the existence of the library is not in doubt - they have been a government supported institution for the past 140 years and I don't think that will change any time soon.

Would you be willing to pay a small fee to help offset that $300,000 shortfall last year, and possibly higher next year, to balance the budget so hours and services didn't have to be cut? Would you be willing to pay 3 cents or 5 cents or as much as 25 cents for your ebook?

I love libraries, please don't get me wrong, and I hope they will still be around another 140 years. If it takes paying a small fee for a DVD, ebook, or whatever to keep libraries around for another 140 years then I'm all for it. I'm not saying that libraries must charge a fee starting this year, but it is something they will have to consider in the next 140 years.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by old goat

Originally Posted by old goat: "Libraries can't continue to depend upon government financing to exist."



Would you be willing to pay a small fee to help offset that $300,000 shortfall last year, and possibly higher next year, to balance the budget so hours and services didn't have to be cut? Would you be willing to pay 3 cents or 5 cents or as much as 25 cents for your ebook?

No.

But I would be happy to pay that amount in increased property taxes. I think that adding basic fees on top of property taxes will take us down a road of divided service that we don't want to be on and will eventually undermine the library's mission.

[elizilla]

As for libraries providing technology items... my local library has rows of computer workstations, and they are very busy; there is often a line to get one. The librarians tell me that most of these people are job seekers; the recession has brought them to the library in force. Many of these people probably have home computers, but lack home internet, since home internet service is a monthly bill they can slash as they try to weather their unemployment. Both of the people I have given readers to, depend on the library for their internet access. They'll have to go to the library to put books on their devices. The devices are easier to carry to and from the library on the bus, than tote bags full of paper books would be. I wonder if the library has machines that can load books to devices that people bring in? I guess we shall find out.

I suppose this is another drawback of DRM - people who don't have internet at home, are frustrated by it. And I fear my patience is not adequate to the task of introducing the elderly to Apprentice Alf; I'm not even gonna try.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

So your worried about library financing and you think the government funding can't keep it afloat and it's all up to us to pitch in for the greater good...

...but until you've made a pretty profit on YOUR books, those libraries are gonna have to pay for the privilege to carry you in their catalog?

Interesting.

Why not? Do you expect authors to write for free, just to make sure that libraries have something to lend?

The question is NOT will libraries pay for books, or will patrons pay for libraries. They already do. The question is just HOW these things will be done in the digital world.

It seems rather clear that the analog funding system does not work in the digital world, whether for music or books. I can imagine that one solution might include that ebooks will not go into libraries for the first year of their existence.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by jackastor

That is obscene charge for a limited read?

Fifty bucks a year for all you can read? Sounds good to me!

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by Phogg

Your social contract with civilization allows you to profit from your book - period.

Making writings available - including to libraries - for the benefit of society is part of a mutual agreement from which authors recieve the benefit of copywrite protection in a reciprocal relationship.

Its a two way contract, you break your part and society owes you zero access to the legal system to enforce exclusivity for your work.

Under what basis did you think copywrite operated?

Actually, no. Free public libraries did not exist when copyright came into existence. Further, the lending of pbooks has nothing to do with copyright, at least that I can see.