Okay, that’s a strong headline.
I don’t KNOW that all publishers don’t like libraries. It’s possible they like libraries just fine, in their private lives. Probably people who run big publishing houses took their kids to storytimes, visit the programs at their local public libraries, and enjoy being part of the community. They probably used academic libraries when they were in school. Maybe they even support funding for sufficient staff in the school libraries in their areas.
So, I guess we can’t just make a blanket statement.
But…we don’t have a bunch of extra money. We’re actually kind of known for that. So this kind of made me want to sob a bit when I read it; read an excerpt below:
Major publishers are sabotaging the public library
Penguin Random House comprises the vast majority of ebooks published on a yearly basis and Macmillan and Hachette almost comprise of the rest. These companies have recently revised their contracts with the public library. Libraries will now have to purchase ebooks that are only good for two year contracts and then will have to devote the resources to see what books they want to buy again and which ones they do not. This is a far cry from the old policy which only had the library make a one time purchase for every ebook they wanted and could loan it out with abandon. Major publishers are now deliberately sabotaging the library system and their rational is they don’t want to devalue their front-list books and want people to buy them, instead of borrow them.
Hachette announced their library terms last week and in a statement, Hachette officials said the switch will mean lower prices for the “vast majority” of Hachette library e-books. That qualifies as a measure of good news for librarians, who have long complained that Hachette’s library e-book prices were unreasonably high. A Hachette spokesperson told PW that most HBG titles will likely be priced under $65, and there will be no limit on the number of lends within that two-year period, on a one-copy/one-user basis.
The same sort of sentiment was echoed by Penguin Random House last year. “We have heard–loud and clear–that while libraries appreciate the concept of ‘perpetual access,’ the reality is that circs for many titles drop off dramatically six to eight months after the initial release. This is true especially for fiction bestsellers,” Dye wrote. “Most librarians are telling us they would rather pay lower prices across our front lists and backlists, in exchange for a copy that expires after a given time period. In response to this feedback, we are happy to tell you that we will be lowering our prices on our entire catalogue of adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction titles. Under our new terms, e-books will expire after two years from original purchase date with the aligned pricing lowered for our e-books.”
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