For the librarians/moderators on e-books vs. paper

[Victoria]

I have a question about book ordering (I guess) and availability as it pertains to e-books vs. paper books. I saw a Facebook post from AACPL today with a link to some new books from the New York Post and it mentioned "the library has these on order - don't forget you can hold them before them come in" or something like that. That is not possible on the Maryland's Digital eLibrary Consortium site, is it? I have searched for newer books but the searches always come up blank and it seems to be dumb luck more than anything else when I find a new book on the website (despite looking through the "new books" section at the top, which has a LOT of books).

Also, are there books that are only ordered in hard copy and not in digital form? Is that due to agreements with the publishers?

Thanks for any passing along any information as to how this all works in the new e-world!

(and thanks to whoever posted the "pre-Google" card catalog meme on Facebook the other day - that was great for those of us that remember!

[AACPL]

Hi Victoria,

That's a great question, and you're very observant.
Libraries and publishers are still navigating the world of ebooks and seeing how everything works.

Here's what I can tell you for sure: usually when we buy ebooks they appear in the catalog almost immediately. So we wait for them to be published, then (once every week or two) place an order. So...there are no "On Order" ebooks, but because there is no processing like physical books, they are often available to checkout before their paper counterparts.

Here's the part where it gets tricky: while all major publishers publish ebooks, not all major publishers sell them to libraries. For instance, Simon and Schuster simply does not sell ebooks to libraries. Hachette, until recently, only sold older titles as ebooks to libraries. Those are BIG publishers and the absence of their titles is noticeable.

Then there are the publishers that do work with libraries, like Harper Collins and Random House. While we can often buy a copy of their paper new releases for $15-$25, the same book in ebook form costs us four to six times that amount, (the same ebook, sold to an individual would probably be $10-$20). We can still only lend to one person at a time, and in some cases the book "expires" after 26 uses (a paper book often makes it to 80-100 uses).

Due to this, we cannot offer the same depth in our ebook collection as our paper collection. We buy as many bestsellers as we can, but due to the cost, we have to buy fewer, and cannot get as many of the "second tier" books as we would like to.

I hope that made sense! This is a constantly evolving discussion in the library world! Please comment if you have any more questions.

Stephanie Petruso
Virtual Services Manager

[Victoria]

Thank you, that is enlightening information. I listen to the Books on The Nightstand podcast and am active in their GR group as well and have learned quite a bit there regarding publishing practices and bookselling (the podcasts hosts work for Random House although the podcast is their own independent project). Interesting that ebooks still cost more than paper and may have a shorter life! That doesn't seem right, but I know for now, it is what it is. What an interesting job (and challenging) you must have Stephanie. Well keep pushing those book publishers for more ebooks and better prices!

Also, thanks! I believe I have checked out (and read most) over 100 ebooks from the library in the past 18 months or so and it's making me and my wallet very happy. I'm so glad we have a great public library system.

[AACPL]

I just saw this article over on Wired and thought I'd share, since it related to the conversation!

http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/10/...

[Victoria]

Thanks for the follow up. That is also very insightful. Interesting to see that Montgomery County is trying to take a proactive or leadership role on the issue.