the state of libraries, ebooks and publishing today

Connecticut State Library Ebook SymposiumFebruary 28, 2014

Alan S. InouyeAmerican Library Association

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Agenda

• A little bit of history• Where are we today?• Challenges and opportunities• The bigger picture: (E)book lending

and the role of libraries• Question / answer time

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The Way We Were:Late 2011 to Early 2012

• In wake of HarperCollins blowback from spring 2011 – initiation of 26 circulation model

• Simon & Schuster, Macmillan out of library ebook market entirely

• Penguin pulls back from library ebook market

• Random House imposes substantial price increase

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What To Do? • Many possible avenues to pursue; lots of

advice• What are ALA strategic advantages?• What would have value in the longer run?• Need to focus energies• Conclusion: Direct engagement with

publishers– Later, expanded to publishing ecosystem– Always subject to revision

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Two Plus Years

• ALA leadership visits to NYC: – 8 multi-day trips

• Conferences: ALA, PLA, AAP, BEA, DBW• Communications– Publications– Articles, op-eds, “Open Letter to

Publishers,” media and communications toolkit, Authors for Library Ebooks campaign

– Informal

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Publisher Perspectives

• Start: Sales displacement, friction, security

• Large, complex, multinational organizations

• Libraries 101: Library marketing staff v. digital business staff and general managers–Misconceptions– Fears (library and non-library based)

• Supporting many platforms and models

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Publisher Perspectives (2)

• Value of ebook >> print book• The distributor black box• The megaplayers: Amazon, Apple,

and Google• What is the little local public library

just around the corner?

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Library Perspectives

• Start: Unfairness, hostility• Publishers are real people• Publishing 101: Didn’t know much

about publishing, and digital publishing– Exacerbated because of rapidly

evolving marketplace

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Library Perspectives (2)

• Making the business case v. library needs

• More than publishers: authors, distributors, retailers, and readers

• Libraries far from homogeneous too• More than “libraries” – state

libraries, cooperatives, …

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Big Five Current Status

• HarperCollins• Penguin Random House• Hachette Book Group• Macmillan• Simon & Schuster

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Some Issues

• Progress in 2013, but…• Pricing• Business models: Too many yet too

few• Remaining restrictions on availability– Frontlist– Pilots– Consortia

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Some Issues (2)

• Facilitating sales: How far can/should libraries go?

• Library platforms• Intermediary platforms --

transferring• Archiving / preservation• Privacy• And more

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Value Proposition of Library Ebook Lending: For Publishers

• Analog to digital: Fundamentally changes the value proposition

• Libraries represent direct sales; especially helpful for the backlist

• Ebook discovery/exposure via brick and mortar facility– Decline in physical outlets; rise of Amazon;

B&N?– Increasing possibilities of libraries as sales

outlets?• Discovery /exposure: The “growth” area?

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Libraries: Facilitating Ebook Discovery and Exposure

• Analogues from print book world still in play

• Leveraging the digital environment– Library Reads– Illinois Author Project– Orange County (FL) Shake It app– Gimme (a clue), Scottsdale (AZ) library– Digital review copies (Edelweiss, Net

Galley)

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The Evolving Library• Library as publisher– Promotes community engagement &

(digital) literacy

• Reframing: The publishing ecosystem– Implications and possibilities for libraries– And then more than ebooks…

• Brainstorming: The future of libraries–Working with Connecticut resident Roger

Levien

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Think Beyond Replicating the Book Model in the Ebook World

Reader PublisherLibrary/Bookseller

Author(& Agents)

Distributor

Reader

Publisher

Library/Bookseller

Author(& Agents)

Distributor

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Discussion - Questions

Alan S. InouyeALA Office for Information Technology PolicyWashington, D.C., ainouye@alawash.org202-628-8410

Resources• American Libraries E-Content Blog• American Libraries Supplement on

Digital Content