Librarians Threaten Boycott Over HC e-Book Terms

[wgwood]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

Public libraries - as we've known them for over 100 years - do not charge for books.

My local library (Laguna Beach, CA, part of the Orange County Public Library system) rents books.

When it purchases, say 5 copies of a new release, it will place one in general circulation on the new books rack, and place the other copies on the rental rack. Charges are typically $0.25 per day.

So if you do not feel like waiting for the free book, you can rent one right away. Typically, there is always at least one copy of the latest bestseller on the rental rack.

Regards,
Greg

Originally Posted by wgwood

My local library (Laguna Beach, CA, part of the Orange County Public Library system) rents books.

When it purchases, say 5 copies of a new release, it will place one in general circulation on the new books rack, and place the other copies on the rental rack. Charges are typically $0.25 per day.

So if you do not feel like waiting for the free book, you can rent one right away. Typically, there is always at least one copy of the latest bestseller on the rental rack.

Regards,
Greg

Great, just another small step in the progress towards complete division of the country into the haves and have nots.

[FF2]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

Great, just another small step in the progress towards complete division of the country into the haves and have nots.

Yup, kind of like a single driver buying their way into the high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane.

[Dulin's Books]

how? they are offering a choice- wait to read it free or rent it sooner. this way they are able to have more copies in circulation but without it costing so much they have to shut the library.

[SleepyBob]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

Great, just another small step in the progress towards complete division of the country into the haves and have nots.

We're already divided into the haves and have nots: Those who have the disposable income to buy the book outright and those who don't and are forced to get on the library's wait list.

This actually helps have nots join the haves by lowering the barrier to entry all the way down to $0.25.

[abookreader]

Well - what about the current trend in Public Libraries that allow for a small fee (I've heard of anywhere from $1 to $4 a book) you can "jump the waitlist" line and get the current bestseller.

Really, that's just a matter of semantics. The library patron is paying money for a loan of a book.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by SleepyBob

We're already divided into the haves and have nots: Those who have the disposable income to buy the book outright and those who don't and are forced to get on the library's wait list.

A larger disposable income actually means you're more likely to use the library. I'll have to dig that study up somewhere, but it clearly showed that the majority of library patrons consists of middle-middle-class and up. Meaning, those that might profit most from a library are the least likely to use it.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by Soldim

Really? That surprises me somewhat. Do you have numbers?

Don't know why it should surprise you. It is no secret that recreational reading is a minority hobby. These numbers are a few years old, but:

http://www.humorwriters.org/startlingstats.html

I can't find stats on the number of times a movie is watched in a year (in all ways-- at the theater, DVD rental, streaming, premium cable, over-the-air) but I have no doubt that it is an order of magnitude above the number of times a book is read.

[KingAl]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Library eBooks $15 from the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Kindle that these eBooks won't work with...priceless!

Of course, if strip the DRM (see your last post), then you can easily convert it to use on a Kindle...

[snipenekkid]

Originally Posted by KingAl

Of course, if strip the DRM (see your last post), then you can easily convert it to use on a Kindle...

[thrawn_aj]

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

Yes, copyright law; I'm afraid it is a bit more complicated. Copyright (or "authors' rights", as some like to call them) is not restricted to actually making copies; it also deals with publishing, translating, broadcasting, disseminating, making publicly available etc. Details will, obviously depend on your jurisdiction.

That said, the chief impediment at this point would probably be the license granted by Amazon. (See these links for more discussion)

I stand corrected. Thanks for the interesting links. Just seems strange considering that (as far as I could find with a serious search), you can buy DVDs and rent them out without any specific license or permission. Maybe I just couldn't find it?

[Soldim]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Don't know why it should surprise you. It is no secret that recreational reading is a minority hobby. These numbers are a few years old, but:

http://www.humorwriters.org/startlingstats.html

I can't find stats on the number of times a movie is watched in a year (in all ways-- at the theater, DVD rental, streaming, premium cable, over-the-air) but I have no doubt that it is an order of magnitude above the number of times a book is read.

Ah, but that's a rather US centric view Unfortunately in this case, Overdrive and HC operate internationally.... Looking at some more stats:

In France, during the year before these stats were published, 70% of the population had read at least one book (which says very little about the median amount of books read per person).

I just read some stats claiming that 90% of the Dutch population reads books (Dutch though).

[corona]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

Great, just another small step in the progress towards complete division of the country into the haves and have nots.

....+1

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Soldim

Ah, but that's a rather US centric view Unfortunately in this case, Overdrive and HC operate internationally.... Looking at some more stats:

In France, during the year before these stats were published, 70% of the population had read at least one book (which says very little about the median amount of books read per person).

I just read some stats claiming that 90% of the Dutch population reads books (Dutch though).

Most sources suggest that 70% of Americans read at least one book per year. I.e., http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...082101045.html Some sources will say 1-2 books per year. But the real issue is how many people read multiple books, with the relevant statistic being that 10-15% of Americans read more than 10-12 books per year.

That 10-15% are the regular readers, and are the target market for e-readers.

[FizzyWater]

One of the four digital libraries I have access to showed 391 new books yesterday (in last 7 days). It seemed like every one I opened was HarperCollins. I had to wonder if the HC books are priced lower, or maybe if they stocked up right before the 3/1 change...I would hate to think that most of those will be expired in a half a year.