A new chapter for library e-book lending

by eallen | Apr 19, 2013

Ottawa’s public library is one of many Canadian branches fighting for more freedom in loaning best selling e-books to Canadians.

When J.K. Rowling’s latest book, Casual Vacancy, hit shelves in late September, it was already number two on Amazon’s bestseller list. The book sold over 600,000 copies in its first three weeks, and fans lined up at bookstores across the country to get their hands on a copy. Libraries quickly ran out of physical copies to lend and began compiling waiting lists for the book. But for patrons with e-readers, they too were forced to either buy the book or go on a waiting list for a hard copy version from their libraries. That’s because Canadian libraries are not allowed to loan out most bestselling books in an e-book format.

While e-readers and e-books are gaining in popularity among Canadian readers, publishers are restricting library access to bestseller e-books. It’s a move that seems counterintuitive, but publishers say it’s because they’re looking to save money. They argue that allowing libraries to lend e-books unrestricted will lead to illegal sharing and downloading of the content by users.

Restrictions currently in place include (1) allowing only a single copy of an e-book to be loaned to one person at a time, (2) limits to how many times the e-book can be loaned before the library needs to buy the book again and (3) not allowing any e-material to be loaned at all. For example, HarperCollins allows an e-book to be loaned only 26 times before the library has to purchase the license again, while Penguin Group allows only certain books to be loaned in an e-book format.  None of the “Big Six” publishers (MacMillan, HarperCollins, Penguin Group, Hachette Book Group, Random House, and Simon & Schuster) responded when contacted for comment on the issue.

But Monique Brûlé, manager of collections at the Ottawa Public Library, says these restrictions don’t look likely to be in place forever. “There is some sort of room to grow towards allowing us better access to their e-books,” she says when speaking of recent negotiations with publishers.

Fighting to go digital

A pilot project being launched this year by the Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC) e-Book task force is taking advantage of the discussions with publishers. The project is being considered as a breakthrough by many Canadian libraries in the tension between publishers and libraries over e-book lending. “We are looking at developing a shared portal where we would be able to purchase content directly through publishers and make that content available directly in our existing library catalogues that we use for physical material,” says Jennifer Stirling, a member of the CULC e-book task force. The group hopes to run the pilot for approximately six months to allow as many Canadian libraries to sign on as possible.

With so many Canadians now turning to digital reading, libraries need to keep up, by offering more e-books.

The pilot would allow publishers to see how giving libraries the ability to purchase e-book content directly from publishers would work, and hopefully ease the restrictions currently in place, Stirling says. The project is similar to one being launched in the United States. Stirling says the outcome of that project will help determine the success of the CULC pilot.

The pilot will also give libraries more flexibility than currently allowed through the digital distributor used for e-book lending. North American libraries use a digital distribution system called OverDrive to lend e-books. It is through this system that publishers supply e-books for libraries to use, removing any direct communication between libraries and publishers. The project will change this method, allowing for direct communication between the two groups.

Kristen Cavanagh of the Brampton Public Library says libraries need to break away from the habit of being a passive institution. “Libraries tend to accept whatever is handed to us. We need to be the people who make the decision: ‘We are not going to buy from you until you go ahead and do this,’” she says. “But that’s not really library culture; we don’t tend to push the envelope, and as a group we should.”

E-readership rising fast

There are high hopes for the CULC pilot project, which may force publishers to finally negotiate with libraries on the strict restrictions. This is because e-readership has been growing exponentially over the past few years and more and more patrons are turning to e-books. A study released in early October by BookNet Canada revealed that e-books represent about 16 percent of the overall Canadian book market. “While Canadian book buyers are still buying their books predominantly in print formats at bricks and mortar stores, there is a significant shift happening in buying and reading behaviour,” the report notes.

The Guelph Public Library noticed the trend toward e-readers and e-books a few years ago and began what CEO Kitty Pope describes as a “petting zoo.” The library hosts the weekly event where patrons can come in and test out different e-readers. Staff are trained and made available to answer any questions about the technology. Pope says this has greatly increased e-book readership at the library. “[Patrons] go to the petting zoos; they play with it, and then they perhaps borrow one of our e-readers. And then from there they say, ‘I want my own!’” She estimates the GPL spends about $5,000 a month on e-book resources to support the growing e-readership. While most other Canadian libraries don’t loan e-readers, services are made available to assist patrons with their own devices, such as links on the website and training from staff.

Jennifer Quinlan is downloading a library e-book. E-readers have made borrowing books such that you don’t need to leave home.

With so many Canadians now turning to digital technology for their reading, it makes sense for libraries to offer content in an e-book format. All librarians interviewed for this story noted that patrons have been frustrated with the inability to borrow most bestselling e-books. Says Cavanagh, “We did a customer satisfaction survey recently, and one of the things that they identified as an increased need is more titles in OverDrive. And they’re just not available. So how do we tell customers that we would love to do that for them, but publishers aren’t willing?”

While the future looks bright for e-books in the market, it remains uncertain for libraries’ e-reading. The pilot project is a step forward in negotiations between libraries and publishers, but Pope, Cavanagh and Brûlé agree it will take time before publishers ease, much less remove, restrictions. Cavanagh’s optimism is cautious. “It’s only going to take one publishing house, and it’s got to be a big one, to say, ‘We’re going to make things available across all platforms; the libraries own it; you can lend it to someone else; you can sell it; and you can treat it like a book,’” she says. “But I think we’re a ways off: not anything happening in the next couple of years.”