More on EBooks, Publishers and Libraries...

The news on EBooks for libraries just doesn't get better -

We don't have access to Penguin titles now, along with lots of other publishers. The American Library Association has had discussions with the "Big 6" publishing houses, and the publishers are concerned about "friction" - the idea that library patrons can check out an EBook easily, with minimal inconvenience concerns them. It sounds like the publishers think that easy library checkouts will reduce their opportunity to sell books. And then just to make things more interesting, the cost of our Random House titles through our vendor, Overdrive, just jumped through the ROOF - titles that used to cost $10 - $25 are now coming in at $45, $50, even as high as $90 for one copy.

What is a library to do? There are a couple of alternatives in development - Baker & Taylor has a new service, but it doesn't provide for Kindle checkouts. 3M is developing their "Cloud Library" which looks really good too, but it is still in beta testing and so far I'm not hearing good news about pricing... Things are still so much up in the air, with everyone trying to figure out how to get the most dollars for EBooks, that I am worried about the Library model. I know that our community wants us to have EBooks - our current Overdrive collection is stretched to the limit, with sometimes as many as 22 holds per title. But with all these limitations, we simply can't meet demand.

If you are a reader, and you want to be able to read titles on your EReader, through your library, contact the publishers and let them know how you feel.