Kate Lambert recalls using her library card just once or twice throughout her childhood. Now, she uses it several times a month.
The lure? Electronic books she can download to her laptop. Beginning earlier this year, Ms. Lambert, a 19-year-old community college student in New Port Richey, Fla., borrowed volumes in the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series, “The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold and a vampire novel by Laurell K. Hamilton, without ever visiting an actual branch.
Fear
From the article:
“I don’t have to get in my car, go to the library, look at the book, check it out,” said John Sargent, the chief executive of Macmillan, the publishing giant that owns imprints including Farrar, Straus & Giroux and St. Martin’s. “Instead, I’m sitting in the comfort of my living room and can say, ‘Oh, that looks interesting’ and download it.”
As digital collections grow, Mr. Sargent said he feared a world in which “pretty soon you’re not paying for anything.” In part because of such concerns, Macmillan does not allow its e-books to be offered in public libraries. The company publishes authors like Janet Evanovich, Augusten Burroughs and Jeffrey Eugenides.
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Libraries are not Napster. The library payed for the book just like for a physical copy. Also, under the current lending models the library can only lend as many electronic editions as it has purchased. The library can not buy one copy and lend to a thousand people at once. If they have a license for that they are probably paying a substantial license fee.
right. tell him to ask Overdrive for their numbers…
obviously the publishers who are represented on Overdrive aren’t going broke. what about Kindle? I thought Amazon paid the least for e-books.. and they don’t collect sales tax… in this economy, as libraries are closing for lack of funds, that is beginning to piss me off… I think I’m going to write something about that..