Monday, March 7, 2011

HarperCollins, Libraries and a 26 check-out limit. Problems ahead?

As some of you may know, HarperCollins recently announced something that could spell trouble for the already struggling libraries around the country. Basically, the licenses for their e-books purchased for library collections will expire after 26 check-outs.

Yep, you read that right. After 26 people read a particular e-book, that's it for that one. Kaput. Finito. The library will have to repurchase the digital rights for each book that expires, every time it expires.

What does this mean for the libraries who are just starting to really embrace this new technology? For one thing, it's certainly going to be hard to keep up a good, well-stocked selection of e-books, which is already a difficult thing to do; there is no discounted rate for e-books yet, and so libraries are paying full price for them. Budgets are already strained. When funding gets tight, library budgets are among the first to get cut. It's going to be hard to keep libraries relevant in an era when technology is starting to take over if it's too expensive to take part in the latest reading technology developments.

HarperCollins' reasoning is that physical books eventually have to get replaced. But really? Only 26 check-outs? That amounts to about one year, according to the Library Journal article I linked to up at the top. I don't know about the books in your library, but most of our books are well over one year old. We have books that are decades old and have probably been checked out hundreds of times.

The only good news about this is other publishers who do not currently sell digital rights to libraries might consider this alternative. Two of the "big six" of the publishing houses, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, are two of those that don't let libraries buy their e-books (again, I'm paraphrasing Library Journal here).

So what do you think? Is this a terrible, terrible problem, or do you disagree with me and think it's a good thing? Will this be a bad or good thing for libraries in the long run, and do you think HarperCollins will continue in this line or ease up?

30 comments:

  1. I think HarperCollins is idiotic -- 26 checkouts is nothing, especially for bestsellers! I do admit that books don't last nearly as long nowadays (they really DON'T make them as well as they used to), but that is just ridiculous. Maybe libraries should just boycott HarperCollins period. They should be ashamed of themselves.

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  2. Just another downside to the whole e-reader fad. It's one of the reasons I won't buy an e-reader: because the e-books aren't actually YOURS. They're not tangible objects, which means you can't ever really own an e-book. You're paying for a "book" that can eventually be taken back from you.

    I hope the libraries can find a way to fight this. It's a real douchebag thing for HarperCollins to do. Cause an actual book can be read hundreds of times without being replaced, and because it just takes big cahonies to screw over libraries. It's like screwing over the Salvation Army or something.

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  3. It seems natural enough for book publishers to be freaking out, a little, about this shift to ebooks. But haven't they learned anything from the music industry? Limiting a book to 26 checkouts isn't adjusting to and learning to work with this new publishing world, it's resisting the change as hard as they can, making decisions that just piss off librarians and their customers. The example I keep referencing for this is Small Beer Press (http://smallbeer.com i think), which offers some of their books as free ebooks and refuses to publish ANY of their ebooks with limitations. Once you buy an ebook it is yours in the same way that a physical one is: you can put it on whatever device you want, lend it, do whatever you want with it. I hope that other publishers start thinking seriously about reducing rather than increasing the rights on their ebooks, in ways that small publishers are already figuring out.

    -- ellen

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  4. How did they even come up with the 26 limit number? As Karen pointed out a new bestseller is not going to last long if it can only be checked out 26 times.

    It's the same with Kindle lending: you can only lend a book out once for 14 days. All this is going to do is make eBooks go the way of digital music and publishers will lose more money when people get the eBooks some other ways

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  5. That's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard! HC should be giving libraries eBooks for free (well why not, Galley's are free!) not charging them for it. 26 check outs might sound like a lot for a physical book but an eBook could easily have 26 check outs within a few months.

    Ergh. I hate greedy publishers.

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  6. I'm kind of up in the air with this one. I do agree that 26 check outs is absolutely ridiculous. Only 26?? In no time the libraries will have to repurchase, and repurchase and repurchase these books. Which in turn means that libraries are going to be LOSING money and libraries are already hard off right now. NOT GOOD! I feel like HarperCollins is being SELFISH! And greedy. However, as a business management major, and someone who has a dream in OWNING a book store of her own someday, I am worried about what's going to come over the reading technology world 10 years from now. We have the e-readers and digital copies of books, etc. What's going to happen to the ACTUAL books? I know it all depends on that Authors/Publishers, and who changes from actual books to the digital copies and what not, but it's a scary thought! So the fact that there will be only 26 check outs available, might be a good idea to keep the actual hard copy books just as popular. So, I'm like stuck in the middle on this one. However, it does go back to that if the libraries have to repurchase these digital copies over and over again, and lose money, there may not be hard copy books either!

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  7. It's a ridiculous policy. Libraries don't rebuy every printed book that falls apart. They fix them and fix them and fix them! They get far more circulations than 26, that's for sure.

    Many libraries are choosing to boycott HC in one way or another. I think the bad press and the mobilization of the library field is going to backfire on HC and they will have to change their policy.

    I think there will always be printed books. I have all of my old Black Stallion books in my daughter's closet right now. Can't do that with eBooks. There will always be books that we want to buy and save forever.

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  8. Obviously, their people haven't been to a library in a loooooonnng time if they came up with that number. We have books in our system that have nearly 100 checkouts, some titles even more. So I think HarperCollins had better redo the math before trying to force libraries to repurchase and repurchase the same ebook titles.

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  9. Surely such a move won't succeed - and it certainly doesn't deserve to either! Bah Humbug Harper Collins!

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  10. I think that this move from HarperCollins is just one of the many, many challenges that will face libraries and, in my opinion, brick-and-mortar book stores.

    Check out this article: http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/could-the-kindle-be-free-by-the-end-of-the-year/

    If this is true, Kindles could be free by the end of the year. That could be a huge catalyst for for readers to move to reading digital books because the cost is so cheap.

    Unfortunately, I disagree with other commenters who said that eBooks are just a fad. I think they're around to stay- and publishers and libraries alike may struggle to keep up with the cheap, popular trend.

    Great discussion topic! :)

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  11. I think this is a perfect example of why hard copy books will never go out of style.

    Publishers are starting to make one too many hoops to jump through to get ebooks (especially for a decent price. Some of them cost even more than the actual book).

    It is so much less of a hassle to either borrow a real book from the library or buy a one from the bookstore. But maybe that is why there are all these hoops. If there were only ebooks many people would be out of jobs. Book stores wouldn't be relevant, certain areas of creating books wouldn't be needed anymore, etc.
    So by making ebooks a little bit more difficult, it will keep people and libraries into buying hard copies.
    Which is what I hope they are thinking. Because even though I love my Kindle, I for one will always love buying an actual book even more.

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  12. I'm on the side of libraries here -- and as an author, I want my books to be available to library goers, whether on hardcover or e-book format. 26 times doesn't seem ample to me.

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  13. As a librarian I thought this was, quite frankly, one of the stupidest ideas ever. Yes, books get damaged and have to be replaced. But books hold up to a lot of wear and a lot of damage can be repaired. I would simply stop buying their e-books. A 26 checkout limit is way too costly, there are lots of other things I can buy for my patrons with that money. I think this idea is going to bite them in the butt, simply because libraries can't afford it.

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  14. Uch that's so stupid! Books don't have to be replaced after 26 uses; I think 100 would make more sense. PLUS, I read that in terms of publisher/author revenue, publishers get way more out of selling ebooks.

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  15. I think this is a little ridiculous. If a book is really popular it'll have up to 26 requests before it even hits library shelves. I get the logic of "Well you eventually have to replace physical books," but libraries often have means of getting physical books for discounted prices, and I think that's harder to do with e-books.

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  16. One of the reasons I refuse to get into e-books is that they're so easy for the publisher to "take away". This confirms my decision to keep my reading "real" and bound. ;)

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  17. Our library (along with 15+ other libraries) subscribes to something called Overdrive to provide e-books to our patrons. Right now, we don't have any e-readers loaded with e-books that we lend out, so that means that the group of libraries all share Overdrive. Which means -- one book from HC has 26 checkouts, spread between 15+ libraries. It's not like we have one copy just for our library's patrons.

    We don't select what goes into Overdrive -- that's done by one person for the whole group.

    Overdrive is working on a solution, so they'll put HC titles in a separate area, apparently. I'm not looking forward to explaining to people what that's all about. All I can do is say it's a "business to business decision" and that our library really doesn't have much say in it.

    Did I mention that this is all frustrating? :)

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  18. Harper Collins has a lot of little policies that bug me. This is just one of many. Libraries are definitely the ones to suffer from this because I don't believe they will continue to budget money to repeatedly purchase an e-book, and then the library readers will suffer as well, because the book will not be available to them. As usual they are shooting themselves in the foot.

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  19. I'm not going to lie, I think they are being really inconsiderate to libraries and the people that read books from them! 26 check outs?! I know for a fact books get more than 26 check outs, especially when the books are hot and new. For instance, when the Twilight craze struck, I definitely wan't in the first 26 to read the book. So, what if it had been an e-book that I wanted? Well, it would have expired and I wouldn't have been able to read it. :/

    Aryelle @ ReadingwiththeFishes

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  20. I understand Harper Collins' point of view, but 26 isn't the correct number. I can't replace my hardbacks after every 26 reads. Just think how many times my copies of Hunger Games or Twilight have been checked out! Way more than 26 times! This isn't going to be cost-effective for libraries. Maybe they could deeply discount the subsequent purchase? I don't know, but there has to be a better way...

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  21. Thanks for your comments everyone! I was only able to get to them now. I am so glad everyone feels along the same lines as I do about this.

    Jo, my library has Overdrive too. I get kind of frustrated with the whole thing because there is only ONE copy of each book for the whole system, unless a library has the funds to buy another copy for their town's residents, which mine does (though not many are residents-only).

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  22. I'm not a fan of this policy. Libraries are having such a hard time right now--budget cuts, lay-offs and furloughs. It would be ridiculous to have to repurchase each book, especially for those libraries just starting to have an e-book branch.

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  23. As everyone else here has said already, I am not a fan of this idea. Trying to make libraries rebuy an ebook after 26 checkouts is hurtful to the libraries and the patrons. Next thing you know HC (and others) will want the libraries to purchase a licence for every paper book that has to be renewed after 26 checkouts. Silly? Yep.

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  24. What a bunch of crock! I am a full supporter of the library and can't believe that someone could come up with (and pass) such an idiotic idea! I say NAY to HarperCollins!! Poop on you -_-

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  25. My library uses Overdrive too and we only have one copy of a book at a time. The concept is all a little confusing to me. But I can check the book out three times before I have to return it. So if each person that checked it out checked it out three times that's 9 people, almost. Seriously? An ebook gets that damaged? I check out the audio books and only because I'm doing an audio challenge. I prefer to hold a book in my hands. I hope there will always be books around and I hope HC changes it's mind.

    Heather

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  26. They have Overdrive at my library as well, and it's so confusing about the ebook/audiobook checking out policies. What I want to know is how much it actually costs Harper Collins to publish an e-book?? It seems like it's be relatively low-cost compared to making a physical, paper book. I really don't know, but that's what I would guess! Thus, the 26 check out rule is silly. 26 checkouts for popular reads in a larger library system is nothing and will go quickly. It makes me sad to see real books going out of style :(

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  27. I find this policy immensely problematic - not because Harper Collins is trying to find a way to best monetize eBooks and to figure out how to make its library policy work with the digital era, but because they're being so shortsighted about how to do it. 26 checkouts is far, FAR too few...and alienating one of your biggest customers, and most important outlets, at a time when libraries are already strained for every penny?

    There are no words.

    As a publisher, I'm horrified at what they're trying to pull here.

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  28. I actually understand the decision to limit lending from a business point of view BUT 26 lends (essentially 1 years worth) is ridiculous. It should be at least comparable to the shelf life of a paperback which my library says is about 3-5 years.

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  29. I worked at a library for about four years and we'd have to mark the circulation every year when we weeded our collection (libraries only have so much space). Non-fiction books don't last as long as Adult Fiction, but I've seen plenty of books that make it well past the 75 or even 100 mark.

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