A Librarian Breaks up with Ebooks

[ysabetwordsmith]

 ... because ebooks are like a bad boyfriend.  0_o

I really think that ebook authors need to get together and offer their stuff directly to libraries.

Comments

[shadowandflame]

That was going around my workplace for a bit...people still occasionally refer to my boyfriend. (Mine because I have primary responsibility for our ebook services. I admit it, I'm trapped in a dysfunctional relationship. :P I keep hoping he'll change! But, sigh.)

[shadowandflame]

(I really wish we could do what Douglas County has done. But we're not big enough to do it by ourselves - it would have to be in the context of a consortium. Possible, but not going to happen in the immediate future.)

[kadharonon.livejournal.com]

"I really think that ebook authors need to get together and offer their stuff directly to libraries."

So, part of the problem with this sentiment is that, as far as I can tell, she is talking about ebook copies of traditionally published novels, and the horrible terms various publishers are offering to libraries. If you're traditionally published, chances are, you let the publishers have an exclusive right to distribute an ebook of your work for as long as the contract said they could. (Forever in some cases, if you didn't read your contract carefully.) But they're the ones who have the distribution systems that allow ebook borrowing at your local library.

And with self-published authors... well. There isn't a good distribution system for them. Libraries (or possibly the self-published authors) would have to build something from the ground up to support the distribution of self-published ebooks, and none of the libraries, at least, really have the time or funding to make it happen. I suppose Amazon.com could put together some sort of distribution system, but I don't really see them having any more favorable terms than the big publishers. And then the question is whether or not the library's patrons have enough interest in self-published ebooks to make buying in to a different distribution system a reasonable investment for the library...

[rhodielady-47.livejournal.com]

DARE I SAY IT???
(Whispers) I'm an ebook virgin.
Oh, not because I truly want to be--I've thought about it a lot--but I just never got "aroundtoit". There always seemed to be a brand new paperback showing up at the door to take me out for an evening's pleasure and sometimes several in a row.
Our library seems willing to step up to the task of deflowering me though--they are offering a free ebook ap that they will help me install on my computer and they have a lot of ebooks which they share with a group of other libraries--looks like a fairly good deal to me.
Thanks for the article--it was a good read.
:)

[cat-sanctuary.livejournal.com]

No e-books for me! I want books that will entertain me when electric power goes out...which happens fairly often, where I live, and is when I do most of my light reading and am most likely to pick up a library book.