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Libraries pushing for change in the price of purchasing e-books

Jan 14, 2019 | 4:06 PM

 

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Libraries across Canada are speaking out as they say providing e-books to users is becoming more and more difficult of a task.

That includes the Medicine Hat Public Library, who are struggling to keep up with e-book demand with what they are calling a system that needs fixing.

The Canadian Urban Libraries Council is calling on publishers to lift some restrictions and ease the financial burden that libraries are under when trying to acquire e-book licenses.

According to the CULC, an e-book like Malcolm Nance’s ‘The Plot to Destroy Democracy’ that costs the average customer $21.90 ends up costing libraries $109 for a digital copy.

Medicine Hat Public Library chief librarian Ken Feser said they are currently limited on how many copies of certain e-books they can lend out at a single time.

“There’s lots of restrictions put on the content,” said Feser. “For example, only one person at a time can sign the material out. They’re odd restrictions and people don’t quite understand with an electronic document, why they have to wait for it. The marketplace is kind of shaking itself out and there is a danger that libraries will be frozen out of that.”

Feser added a number of their e-book titles will disappear after being handed out, which he said is frustrating for some of their more popular items.

“Some of them do have a limitation,” he said. “The publishers said, ‘Hey, if a library buys a book, eventually this book gets read and it falls apart, there’s a limit to how long a book can last.’ So, they said with their e-books they’re going to put that same kind of restriction on, 26 circulations is one that’s used by some publishers.”

A hashtag of #eContentForLibraries has arisen over the last few weeks, with libraries pushing to make publishers aware of their concerns.

Feser said they’re looking for a handful of changes from these publishers to make sure both sides are getting what they want.

“It would be nice if we could offer simultaneous access so people don’t have to wait needlessly for a title,” he said. “We need to work out copyright and licensing arrangements that are fair to both parties, right now it is pretty hard for libraries. Sometimes we would pay the big money to get that title because we know people want it and we just can’t get it at any price.”

The CULC say digital contest is the fastest growing area for borrowing for public libraries in Canada, while eAudiobook sales are increasing by double-digits each year.