Vanessa Lu Business Reporter, Toronto Star
The Toronto Public Library’s e-book offerings are being significantly curtailed as publishers struggle to cope with the growing popularity of the new format.
Penguin initially announced it was pulling all library e-titles downloaded on Amazon’s Kindle device over security concerns, but last week amended it to library access to its new Penguin e-books instead.
That comes on the heels of a March decision by HarperCollins Publishers to restrict library circulation of e-book titles to 26 times, after which libraries must buy another copy.
It argues that with an average two-week borrowing period, 26 times works out to a year — about the length of time printed books wear out and popularity wanes.
But the Toronto Public Library hasn’t bought any HarperCollins e-titles since the new policy went into effect, because it doesn’t have the technology to keep track of downloads.
Susan Caron, manager of collection development for Toronto’s libraries, said Penguin has concerns over pirating through the Kindle device, which is not sold in Canada.
“We’re collateral damage,” Caron said, calling it a technical problem with Penguin officials working on a solution. “It’s huge. (Penguin is) one of the largest and most important publishers in the world.”
Its titles includes paranormal romance, top literary fiction and popular authors like Nora Roberts and Tom Clancy.
U.S. publishers, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan, do not sell e-books to libraries.
While e-books make up less than 1 per cent of the 32 million items that the Toronto Public Library circulates, they are growing in popularity. Users can also read e-books on certain tablets and smartphones.
The library’s statistics show e-book downloads jumped 196 per cent from 2009 to 2010, and are up 288 per cent so far this year from last year.
On Christmas Day and Boxing Day last year, the Toronto public library saw a huge spike in downloads of its e-book collection as people tried out their new gifts.
The library currently carries about 13,000 e-book titles, which are checked out more than 20,000 times each month.
It can only circulate a single copy of an e-title to one borrower at a time.
Patrons can borrow 10 books for up to 21 days. After the due date, the book disappears from the individual’s reading device so the item can circulate again.
The global e-book market is one of the fastest growing segments of the consumer technology industry, with a compound annual growth rate of 36 per cent through 2015, according to third party market research firms.
Toronto’s Kobo, which was spun off from Indigo book retailer in 2009, has been acquired by Japan’s Rakuten for $315 million (U.S.)
Because library patrons can easily borrow an ebook just sitting at their computers without stepping inside a branch, publishers are naturally worried it will affect sales.
Would people bother to buy books if they can conveniently access them for free?
“It’s a threat. It’s very easy to understand where the book publishers are coming from, but the problem is it’s flying in the face of some version of common sense,” said Joshua Gans, a University of Toronto professor at the Rotman School of Management.
“Publishers still want to hang onto the idea that one individual will buy their book, and that will be it,” Gans said.
“This has never been true. If you buy a book, everybody in your household reads it. You’ll lend it to friends.”
But he doesn’t believe there is a clear-cut solution yet.
“Publishers may experiment. But it’s still a bit of a waiting game,” he said.
Top e-books
The top circulating e-books at the Toronto Public Library this month are:
IQ84 by Haruki Murakami
The Perfect Order of Things by David Gilmour
Catherine the Great by Robert Massie
Falling Backwards by Jann Arden.
Source: Toronto Public Library
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