Public libraries today are fighting to remain relevant in an increasingly technology-driven, digitized age. A new trend is emerging in publishing which challenges the traditional print models that are the foundation of public library service: the ability to quickly purchase and access books via e-reader products such as the Amazon Kindle, the Barnes and Noble Nook, the Sony Reader, and the Apple iPad. While e-readers are a new technology and currently primarily purchased by the well-off, anecdotal and research evidence suggest that they will quickly become mainstream, because of their ease-of-use, portability, and instant access.
What will the inevitable popularity of e-readers mean for public libraries? Libraries face several issues, including whether they should buy and circulate e-readers; how copyright and Digital Rights Management regulations affect the circulation of e-books via e-readers; what the potential demand from the public for e-reader titles might be and how libraries can address this demand; and how the traditional print book market is changing and what that means for libraries.
While the term “e-book” can be applied to any book available in an electronic format (for example, audiobooks on CD, or books read through a traditional laptop or desktop computer via online services such as NetLibrary), this discussion focuses on books published, sold, and formatted for use by e-reader products; specifically, the Amazon Kindle and the Apple iPad. For many libraries, the NetLibrary model has been in use for years (Lexington Public Library, for example, provides downloadable audiobooks on a 21-day check-out system, and Jessamine County Public Library circulates NetLibrary and Overdrive audiobooks as well as e-books that are read on a computer using free digital reader software). The proliferation and sudden popularity of handheld e-readers – which use proprietary file formats for the book content – poses a challenge for libraries; the NetLibrary model does not work for this type of content, and uncertainty about technology requirements, publisher restrictions on distribution, cost, and genuine patron interest abounds.
Librarians are paying close attention to the trends as they seek to ease their uncertainty. A recent article in The New Yorker posits that publishers are looking to e-books to save their business; sales of e-books increased by 177% in 2009, compared to 1.6% growth in traditional print sales the previous six years.The e-reader devices themselves are selling at fast rates, with sales doubling in 2009 from 2008 numbers, and the same pace expected to continue through 2012 (Nystedt, 2010). However, as noted by Bedord (2009), “Libraries buy for multiple users. Consumers, including students, buy for individual use. It's a significant difference.” Does the booming popularity of e-readers and e-book titles translate to the library environment?
To investigate this question, the issue of Digital Rights Management (DRM) for e-books must be understood. In the wake of the music industry’s loss of control over content piracy online, book publishers are skittish about releasing their content electronically. DRM is, in simple terms, the “access control technologies that can be used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to impose limitations on the usage of digital content and devices” (Wikipedia.com). What this means for e-books is that when a person purchases an e-book from a retailer such as Amazon or the Apple iBook store, that e-book is sent as a file to the e-reader device, and the file is encrypted with code that prevents the person from transferring the file to any other devices. In essence, DRM ensures that each e-book can only be read on the device for which it was purchased. This limits the distribution possibilities of the titles; for print books, libraries are protected under the “Right of First Sale,” which entitles them to buy one copy of a print book and lend it out as many times, and to as many people, as they wish without paying the copyright owner; the notion is that the library funds used to purchase the book subsidize its use by patrons (Rubin, p. 142).
If a library purchases an e-book, however, current DRM technologies restrict the viewing of that title to the device for which it was purchased. In other words, unlike with print books that are self-contained and can be easily checked in and out by patrons, thereby allowing the same book to be read by multiple people over the course of its existence, an e-book would need to be circulated with its device – a much more expensive proposition. And in addition to the cost, this model can be unappealing to library patrons who would prefer to read e-books on their own e-readers. After all, one of the benefits of owning an e-reader is that multiple books – thousands of titles, depending on the storage size of the e-reader – are contained on one small handheld device, allowing the owner to virtually carry their entire collection of books for access anywhere, anytime. Like audiobooks on CD or DVD movies that are checked out to patrons with the assumption that they own or have access to a CD or DVD player, ideally e-books would be checked out to patrons who own an e-reader and can access the content on their own device along with other e-books they have purchased themselves. While library patrons who do not own an e-reader may be fascinated and excited by the opportunity to check one out from their library, they are not the primary market for a public library’s e-book collection.
However, while DRM is debated amongst publishers and open-source advocates (such as the Free Software Foundation, who claim that “[d]evices like Amazon's are trying to determine how people will interact with books, but Amazon's use of DRM to control and monitor users and their books constitutes a clear threat to the free exchange of ideas” (fsf.org) and take copyright law to an extreme), some libraries have begun to circulate e-reader devices with pre-loaded content. According to ireaderreview.com, a blog that lists libraries who are lending Kindles and other e-readers, Amazon has tentatively approved this model, with caveats:
“Thank you for contacting Amazon.com Kindle. We appreciate your interest in using the Amazon Kindle in your Library.
We have reviewed through our Terms and Conditions regarding this matter and the Amazon Kindle. You will be able to purchase Kindles for your library to use for checking out to patrons, as long as you are not reselling the digital content.
One thing we recommend however is that once you have transfered [sic] your content that you unregisterthe [sic] device through the settings menu on the Kindle. This is because once the device is registered you may make purchases to the default card on the account with out [sic] having to log in, and thus preventing a patron from making an accidental purchase on your account.”
The River Forest Public Library (http://www.rflib.org/books-and-media/kindles) in Illinois owns and circulates five Kindles (with one additional Kindle maintained inside the library that does not check out, but that patrons can use in the building), each pre-loaded with titles in a certain genre (popular fiction, popular non-fiction, mystery and suspense, leadership, and history). Response to the new program has been positive, and each device has a long waiting list. The Mead Public Library (http://www.meadpubliclibrary.org/books/kindle) in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, has a similar program, with five pre-loaded Kindles. In order to check out a Kindle, patrons must sign an agreement acknowledging financial responsibility for the device, and late fines are $5 per hour (the lending period is 14 days).
Mead Public Library’s strict fine system and signed agreement requirement reflect one of the biggest drawbacks to lending e-readers: cost. A Kindle costs $259 and the price for an iPad is $499, and this price does not include the cost of the books, which can range from ten to thirteen dollars each. Public libraries are, unfortunately, used to finding that their popular, expensive content has been stolen (either directly from the library or checked out and never returned) or damaged (DVDs and music CDs fall prey to this phenomenon frequently), and concern about the cost to the library when an e-reader fails to return or is returned damaged and unusable is justified.
Additionally, as articulated above in the Amazon response to libraries lending Kindles, strict management of the devices themselves is called for, because content can be purchased directly from the e-reader device itself. If the library’s account is activated on the e-reader when it is checked out, the patron with the device could download a significant amount of e-books at the library’s expense.
Account and device management issues, high cost, and dissatisfaction among current e-reader owners (who would like content on their own devices) are top reasons for public libraries to decide not to circulate e-reader devices. However, the libraries who are braving the new frontier, such as River Forest Public Library and Mead Public Library, have experienced lots of excitement for and usage of the e-readers. In a time when library administrators are seeking ways to remain relevant and useful in their communities, offering new technologies such as e-readers can be a wise marketing decision.
Texas A&M University Libraries conducted a study in 2008 and 2009 in which they evaluated the usage of 40 Kindles purchased by the libraries and circulated. The “investigators concluded that the Kindle is an effective device for basic popular reading, but has limited value for academic reading because of poor graphics, high cost and limited content” (Clark, 2009). The libraries aggressively marketed the availability of their Kindles, including graphic banners on their web homepage (Figure 1). On the first day of the program, 30 people had signed up to check out a Kindle, and 108 patrons were on the waiting list at the end of the first month. Librarians were surprised and overwhelmed by the demand (Clark, 2009).
Figure 1: Texas A&M University Libraries promoted their circulating Kindles on their webpage
Texas A&M’s experiment suggests that library patrons are interested in using e-readers and have no qualms with reading content electronically. Interestingly, though the study was conducted at an academic institution, results demonstrated that the e-readers are being used primarily for reading popular books, a finding which has ramifications for public libraries. These results are probably due in part to the fact that the majority of titles available for the Kindle are popular fiction and non-fiction books; scholarly journals and textbooks have not yet been widely offered in the e-book format.
These findings indicate that public libraries may find success with a Kindle or other e-reader circulation program. Libraries that are interested in increasing circulation statistics and general usage may find that adding e-readers to their collection helps achieve this goal. For libraries that depend on strong statistics to support their budget, the buzz and usage generated by circulating e-readers could assist in funding negotiations. Additionally, as libraries seek to be seen as technological innovators and leaders, incorporating e-books and e-readers into the collection – and marketing them well – will contribute to this image.
Despite the hurdles – sometimes significant – to using e-books in libraries, traditionalists and trend watchers are concerned with the implications of increasingly available digital content. Is print truly dying? And if so, what does this mean for libraries? Admittedly, these issues have been playing out in the library space for decades, since the introduction of online and CD-ROM database content, and more recently with open-source content available freely on the Web. However, database and open-source content tends to be scholarly and reference-based; e-books present the digitization of mass market and popular reading materials, including current bestsellers and perennial favorites – the bread and butter of many public libraries. Should DRM restrictions be lifted, allowing libraries to circulate e-books to users’ devices, there is concern that libraries as we know them will become irrelevant; our buildings unnecessary.
Bloggers on ALA’s TechSource predict that “E-books are the future of reading in a very real way, simply because at some point they will be too cheap to not use.” And of course, additional questions will be raised: “the development of the Kindle and similar personal, portable reading, communicating, and gaming devices raises some basic "two cultures" questions. Will the info elite all migrate to Kindles and iPhones and such stuff, leaving print and libraries for the underclass?” This last comment suggests that libraries will not go away, but our clientele may change. This is not necessarily a bad thing; libraries are public institutions dedicated to serving the public good, and attracting new and more needful patrons fits our service model.
While most of our work is invisible and seemingly effortless to the general public, librarians are trained and skilled in balancing tight budgets, developing collections to satisfy a diverse clientele, and making items in the collection easily findable and available to patrons – whether via the library’s OPAC, website, or browsable stacks. Introducing e-books into a collection does not eliminate the need for any of this work; indeed, new challenges are likely to arise (for example, how will e-books be catalogued, and how will the content be delivered to users?) that will require even more and greater librarian expertise. Librarians should not be concerned for their jobs or their institutions; rather, they should be vigilant about staying abreast of the e-book trends and the possibilities for increasing library usage and patron satisfaction.
Works Cited
Auletta, K. (2010, April 26). Publish or perish: can the iPad topple the Kindle, and save the book business?. The New Yorker, Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/04/26/100426fa_fact_auletta.
Bedord, J. (2009). Ebooks Hit Critical Mass: Where Do Libraries Fit With Oprah?. Online (Weston, Conn.), 33(3), 14-16, 18. Retrieved 6 May 2010, from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.
Clark, D.T. (2009). Lending Kindle e-book readers: first results from the Texas A&M University project. Collection Building, 28(4), Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/01604950910999774
Digital rights management. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management on 6 May, 2010.
Freeman, D.A. (2009, April 21). A Techsource blogger forum: e-readers and libraries. Retrieved from http://www.alatechsource.org/blog/2009/04/a-techsource-blogger-forum-e-readers-and-libraries.html
Libraries lending out Kindle. (2009, June 16). Retrieved from http://ireaderreview.com/2009/06/16/libraries-lending-kindle/
Nystedt, D. (2010, January 5). E-reader sales will double again this year, CEA says. PCWorld, Retrieved from http://www.pcworld.com/article/185983/ereader_sales_will_double_again_this_year_cea_says.html
Rubin, R. (2004). Foundations of library and information science. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.
The Free Software Foundation: http://www.fsf.org/
River Forest Public Library’s Kindle program: http://www.rflib.org/books-and-media/kindles
Mead Public Library’s Kindle program: http://www.meadpubliclibrary.org/books/kindle
