Library E-Book Lending Poses Rising Problem for Publishing Industry

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

I would suggest that part of this is that books are much more common now than they were even 60 years ago.

More common and also much more broadly available, which isn't quite the same thing.
The local library was a place to get all sort of books, whether or not you had a local bookshop, and whether or not the book was something the bookshop wanted to carry. My library growing up had a much larger selection than a bookshop, and access to an even larger inter-library scheme.

The library ensured that access to books wasn't limited to just those that local bookshops wanted to carry, without forcing you to travel somewhere else to get them.

With eBooks, that simply isn't an issue, and least in most countries.
Anyone who has online access to a library also has online access to Amazon/Kobo or equivalents, who carry far more books that anyone's library system is likely to. The'll sell you any book they have available, and you don't have to 'travel' at all.

The accessibility (as opposed to cost) benefit just doesn't seem to be there for library eBooks at all, when anyone with a phone can buy any book available in their country without leaving their house.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

More common and also much more broadly available, which isn't quite the same thing.
The local library was a place to get all sort of books, whether or not you had a local bookshop, and whether or not the book was something the bookshop wanted to carry. My library growing up had a much larger selection than a bookshop, and access to an even larger inter-library scheme.

The library ensured that access to books wasn't limited to just those that local bookshops wanted to carry, without forcing you to travel somewhere else to get them.

With eBooks, that simply isn't an issue, and least in most countries.
Anyone who has online access to a library also has online access to Amazon/Kobo or equivalents, who carry far more books that anyone's library system is likely to. The'll sell you any book they have available, and you don't have to 'travel' at all.

The accessibility (as opposed to cost) benefit just doesn't seem to be there for library eBooks at all, when anyone with a phone can buy any book available in their country without leaving their house.

Yep. I have a hardback copy of Chandler's "The Campaigns of Napoleon" purchased for me by my parents when they were visiting London probably 30 years ago. It wasn't available in the US, except perhaps in used book shops. I bought an ebook copy of it about 5 or 6 years ago.

I give Amazon a ton of credit for a lot of that. Even when we had B&N, there was limited space for slightly obscure books like that. Amazon changed everything. Amazon pushed publishers to make books available as ebooks and once the market for ebooks was established, everyone started to get in on it. There are still some books not available as ebooks for a variety of reasons, but not all that many and most of those are orphaned books or are ill-suited for the ebook market.