Kelvin Watson, Co-Chair of the DCWG, Takes a Stand

[Disclosure: Mr. Watson is a member of the ReadersFirst Working Group and Working Group members saw and commented upon a draft of his statement]

In “Addressing eContent Issues in Times of Crisis,” an opinion piece in LJ, Kelvin Watson comments upon the state of library digital content during the COVID-19, crisis, addressing the huge rise in demand and the challenges libraries face in meeting that demand. Watson raises important questions:

“as public libraries do more and more in times of crisis to fill gaps in our social safety net, it is time to rethink how publishers and content providers relate and do business with public libraries and their customers. How can those relationships be retooled and reimagined to provide outcomes that are more beneficial for all? Going forward, what will an equitable distribution of electronic media/content for libraries and library customers look like?”

The piece is well-worth a read for librarians. Mr. Watson, Co-chair of the ALA’s reformed Digital Content Working Group, speaks not only as an individual authority but also on behalf of this group, a group which is working to promote better content access for all libraries. RF supports and quotes with favor, however, Mr. Watson’s conclusion:

“As a united group of public service institutions, libraries must ask publishing leaders to join us in creating a model that calls for open accessibility and equity not just some of the time and not just for some of the people, but for everyone, all of the time, under any conditions, in any market, as a matter of industry practice.

While better models are developed, perhaps through legislative advocacy, we can make immediate improvements now, recognizing authors’ needs to be compensated in a time when sales are down and other avenues, such as book tours, are closed. The Big Five publishers should reinstate the option for a perpetual access license. Such a license might be offered at a higher than a metered model but is essential for libraries to build long-term collections as rich as what we offer in print.

The time-based model, with licenses expiring in two years, often results in a very high cost-per-use and discourages the licensing of many titles. It should be abandoned for a circulation-based model, with licenses expiring only after a set number of check-outs have occurred. During the COVID-19 crisis, Penguin Random House is offering licenses on audiobooks in both perpetual and metered models. We salute this practice: it shows that options for variable licenses can be offered. As a gesture of their willingness to work with one of their main customers—perhaps their biggest one—we ask that the Big Five (and other publishers) immediately make these licensing changes, ideally offering both the metered and perpetual options at once.

Arguments that library vendors cannot adapt to these options or that ONIX will not support this change have been proven to be wrong. This change would be a vital step in working together to get content to readers, increasing visibility and ultimately consumer sales, while allowing libraries to develop their best collections.”