TOR going Overdrive?

[JSWolf]

I've found some of the Ender books by Orson Scott Card at Boston Public Library's Overdrive. Does this mean TOR is allowing all of their eBooks to bought via Overdrive?

One can only hope.

[PurpleStar]

Perhaps they are available for Overdrive now. I was surprised to see Ender's Game and all of the Wheel of Time books in my library's Overdrive last week.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've found some of the Ender books by Orson Scott Card at Boston Public Library's Overdrive. Does this mean TOR is allowing all of their eBooks to bought via Overdrive?

One can only hope.

Yep. this happened a while ago.

Macmillan now licenses back list ebooks to libraries for $25 a copy with a 2 year expiration.

[ottdmk]

Oh good grief, that's highway robbery!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ottdmk

Oh good grief, that's highway robbery!

Yes, it is. But at least it's allowing older books to be bought if the library can afford it.

I just don't get why eBooks get the shaft at Overdrive.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I just don't get why eBooks get the shaft at Overdrive.

Don't blame Overdrive. Blame the publishers.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Don't blame Overdrive. Blame the publishers.

Yep.

Macmillan is just the latest major publisher to offer a hostile contract to libraries. Hachette, for example, sells ebook at extortionate prices while HarperCollins sell ebooks under a license which expires in one year. Simon & Schuster is currently only supporting a pilot program for the 3 library systems in NYC (also with an expiring license), and then there's Random Penguin Solutions.

The combined Random House/Penguin conglomerate is still sorting out their contracts and continue to license ebooks to libraries under 2 different models. Random House titles are sold to libraries at a steep markup while Penguin titles are licensed under an expiring contract. If this dual contract setup seems strange or inefficient, let me remind you that we are talking about the publishing industry here.

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...p-prices-high/

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Yes, it is. But at least it's allowing older books to be bought if the library can afford it.

I just don't get why eBooks get the shaft at Overdrive.

Because the publishers think we're all criminals who steal ebooks.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Don't blame Overdrive. Blame the publishers.

I'm not blaming Overdrive. It's just that at Overdrive eBooks get shafted by the publishers. The thing is, I don't see this as any real difference between borrowing an eBook and borrowing a pBook.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by PurpleStar

Because the publishers think we're all criminals who steal ebooks.

I think we should get a class action lawsuit again the eBook publishers with these sorts of terms. They are calling us criminals without any proof at all.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I just don't get why eBooks get the shaft at Overdrive.

Some of the big publishers are looking for a library system where they get paid every time the book is lent.

[PurpleStar]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I think we should get a class action lawsuit again the eBook publishers with these sorts of terms. They are calling us criminals without any proof at all.

I sure wish we could do that and get all DRM dropped while we're at it. But of course, that's a different topic.

[Fbone]

My library is part of a "consortium" so each library pays very little for each ebook. My librarian said the cost is negligible.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I think we should get a class action lawsuit again the eBook publishers with these sorts of terms. They are calling us criminals without any proof at all.

I don't recall being called a criminal personally. Maybe you can find an indiscreet publishing executive who once said that people who borrow library eBooks are a bunch of criminals. Can you? And if you can, are there enough saying that to really justify claiming that "they" say it.

As for "these sorts of terms," they should charge what the market will bear.

eBooks are worth more than paper to the library because the ancillary costs are so much less. Consider just the construction costs of the library. The new million book library in Birmingham cost over US$300 million to build, or around $304 per book. Even if we assume half the library consists of non-literature space, such as videos, music, and public meeting rooms, it still cost $150 in initial construction cost to house a book. I don't know about Britain, but in the US, double that for debt service. As for what happens after the bonds are paid off, then it is time for major renovations. Plus there is the cost of staffing the library.

If the library, in the long term, will only need half the land due to eBooks, the other half can be sold to a business which will bring in property tax revenue.

Reading is not life and death.

High prices for food and medical care are IMHO socially irresponsible, because those are life and death.* High price for books? No.

The last two books I finished were paper library books. The libraries should consider all the financial ramifications in their decisions, as should publishers. And since book publishers are still fairly profitable by non-tech-industry standards, I suspect they are.

____________________
* P.S. On second thought, I'm not even sure about this. If there is widespread starvation, it might be wrong to run a luxury restaurant, but that's not true in most countries today. And expensive medical care might be justified if the profits are plowed back into research. But in any event, the case for price restraint is far greater with food and medical care than books.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Yep. this happened a while ago.

Macmillan now licenses back list ebooks to libraries for $25 a copy with a 2 year expiration.

Does that not mean that you buy the book for $25 and can lend it out for 2 years. This seems to me to be very cheap and not expensive at all so I do not understand the comments here.