PORT ANGELES – North Olympic Library System is joining a nationwide boycott of a book publisher that has set new restrictions on its sales of e-books to libraries.
Many library cardholders check out e-books to read on tablets or other devices, and libraries loan them out like any other book. If the library purchases 20 e-book copies of Harry Potter, those 20 copies will circulate and a waiting list will be set up.
But one of the world’s biggest publishers, Macmillan Publishers Ltd. last week announced that, from here on, libraries can only purchase one copy each of their e-books in the first 8 weeks of the book’s release. Macmillan says they’re losing too much money in book sales to library lending.
NOLS librarian Sarah Morrison explains why that’s a problem.
“Number one: the library pays up to five times the consumer rate for an e-book. So we’re not buying a $20 hardcover or 14.99 that you might pay for your ebook. We’re paying upwards of 60 or 80 or a hundred dollars for that. So the publisher is seeing a return right away. But when we’re only able to buy one copy of something and the patron logs on to place a hold, the system is going to say “Your wait is approximately three and a half years”. And so McMillan is hoping that people are going to see that and say, you know, “I’m okay…I’m okay with waiting a month or two for a book, but I don’t want to wait 3 years. So I’m going to go and spend my own money”.
NOLS joins the boycott as a member of the Washington Digital Library Consortium. The boycott is scheduled to run through the end of next year, during which time no e-books or e-audiobooks will be purchased from Macmillan.
Morrison says the consortium, along with other library systems across the country, are hoping the company will see an impact on their bottom-line sales revenues and change their policy.
“So by having the boycott, we’re able to say: “Something’s going on. We disagree with it and we’re protecting your rights and trying to spend your tax dollars as appropriately and wisely as we can”.
Keep in mind, the library system will still have hardcover and other versions of the publisher’s new releases.
For information about download and streaming options available to you free with your library card visit nols.org/digital-books-media.
Comments to Macmillan Publishers can be directed to press.inquiries@macmillan.com.