Carmi Parker's Blackstone Update for 10/4/2019

ReadersFirst Working Group Member and Whatcom County Library System ILS Administrator Carmi Parker has provided an update on the Blackstone Boycott.

“The Berks County Public Library system joined us several weeks ago, announcing their plan to boycott both Blackstone Audio and Simon & Schuster audiobooks. The Reading Public Library, which is part of Berks County, is taking that two steps further and adding Macmillan and Hachette audiobooks to the boycott. Here is the Berks County announcement, including an image of their OverDrive stats related to these publishers’ eAudiobooks.

I also heard this week from Yolo County Library in California, which plans to boycott Blackstone and eBooks and eAudiobooks from Macmillan for six months. Here is Yolo County’s announcement. They also have shared the news on the California Library Association’s listserv.

We are proud to have these library systems join us and thank them for their work on behalf of patron access!”

Thank you, Carmi!

More and more libraries are signing on to ALA’s https://ebooksforall.org/ campaign. We are nearing 100,000 signatures. RF is working to have every Maryland library system sign on and get the word to patrons about unfair licensing practices. Why not join, if you haven’t already?

"Reading is here to stay, but how we are doing it is changing"

AN NPD Group survey reports that “nearly three out of four consumers in the U.S. reported reading a book or listening to an audiobook in the past six months.”

According to the survey, traditional print remains the most popular medium, with “more than half of respondents reported reading a print book in the past six months, while only one-quarter read an electronic book (e-book). This is consistent with NPD point-of-sale tracking, where the print book market makes up 81 percent of the overall market, up from 72 percent in 2013.”

Not surprisingly, print is especially preferred for books for the very young: “Parents value the lap time print books offer, which is a wonderful way for parents to bond with their children and foster a love of reading early on. They also view print books as an offset to screen time, in our increasingly connected world.”

Audiobook use is growing: “adults between the ages of 18 and 44, a key consumer demographic for marketers, are listening to audiobooks the most. ‘Audiobook listeners are also most likely to engage with all forms of book activity, making them valuable consumers when it comes to content and purchasing power,’ McLean said. ‘They practice equal-opportunity literacy, not only listening to audiobooks, but also reading print books, magazines, and graphic novels.’.”

Not all the news is good: “books are facing stiff competition for consumer attention from other entertainment activities . . . . survey respondents reported reading roughly 9 percent less this year than they did last year overall, with the steepest drop off reported for readers between the ages of 45 and 54.”

The results won’t be a surprise for librarians. They match trends in library use: for most libraries, print circulation is dropping or at best remaining flat (though most libraries are not seeing 9% declines), while digital use continues to grow but not enough to overcome the decrease in print circ. The results do, however, underscore the continued need for enhancing the library digital content experience. The survey suggests that the trends we see are part of a larger social trend. Digital content will be increasingly important, and libraries will need to advocate for the continued importance of reading as other entertainment and information forms grow in popularity.

A Small Change for Consortia in Macmillan Licensing

Yesterday OverDrive announced through account managers that Macmillan would “allow Advantage libraries to purchase additional copies (still one per Adv library) in the OC/OU format during the first 8 weeks. This will be in addition to the single copy the consortium can purchase.”

Michael Bills from Baker & Taylor confirmed via ALA ASGCLA that “B&T brought this up in meetings at Macmillan’s offices in mid-August. After asking for this permission, and explaining how non-shared local collections work within consortia, Macmillan leadership agreed to allow Axis 360 Unbound libraries—and by extension, OD Advantage libraries—to order a perpetual copy for their patrons, in addition to the consortium copy. Glad to hear that OD asked, and received the same permissions.”

This slight change is helpful in many ways for consortial libraries, or even independent ones. It gives them more control over their collections. Members of a consortia can get titles individually even if no consortia copy is leased. It offers potential cost savings over time: because the license in the first 8 weeks is one copy/one user perpetual, one copy of titles, at least, will not have to be constantly renewed. The option can conceivably help with preservation of access over time. And a few more titles can be offered to patrons in the first 8 weeks: libraries with multiple platforms (for example, DPLA Exchange, Axis 360 or Cloud Library, plus their consortium vendor) could perhaps offer 3 copies before having to plunge for however many copies via metered access.

So, grudgingly, RF offers thanks to Macmillan for agreeing and more graciously to the library vendors for asking.

If Macmillan were offering to each library one and only one perpetual access license in addition to a shared consortial copy, even at full price or even a bit higher, plus unlimited metered access licenses, all on the day a title was released, we’d all be thanking them, especially if the metered licenses were based only on circulation and not time. That 8 week embargo is still a BIG sticking point, though, isn’t it?

ALA Launches eBooksForAll.org Website

The ALA has released a memo to its members from Wanda Brown.

It reads as follows:

Since we denounced Macmillan Publishers’ planned embargo on eBook sales to libraries in July, ALA members have raised their voices loud and clear to say that access to eBooks in libraries should not be denied or delayed.

Your opposition has taken the form of private letters to Macmillan CEO John Sargent, public statements from chapters condemning the publisher’s new licensing terms, letters to the editor and op-eds. Last week ALA stepped up our #eBooksForAll campaign and released a public petition calling for Macmillan to halt its embargo, scheduled to begin November 1.

Today, ALA launched a website, eBooksForAll.org, with information and tools you can use to invite your patrons to join our movement and demand eBook access for all:

• Frequently asked questions about the planned embargo
• Social media samples and graphics
• Print resources like posters and table tents  
• Media outreach tools

ALA members know Macmillan’s embargo is about more than an eight-week wait for new eBooks. It is up to us to tell our patrons the truth: limiting access to new titles means limiting access for readers.

I encourage you to sign the petition at eBooksForAll.org and use the tools there to share the petition and campaign with your community. Our nation’s libraries have millions of allies. We must work together to ensure equitable access to the world’s knowledge, regardless of format.

More soon. Thanks again for your advocacy.

RF thanks the ALA for its efforts. It will take more than petitions, we think, but spreading the word to the public is important for all of us.

Blackstone and other Updates from RF Working Group Member Carmi Parker

 Greetings!

On the Blackstone boycott front, we have a new library system that plans to boycott audiobooks from Blackstone, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Hachette!  They have not yet announced it officially so I will let you know who they are when they have done so.

We received the answers to our questions [ed.—not much in the way of answers!] to Blackstone a couple weeks ago and I do not expect much more news on that front, so will be posting only when I have an update rather than weekly.  Since we are seeing more libraries begin to boycott other publishers, I am planning to start a weekly update that shares that information, along with news about eBook restrictions.  Here is a start, and we should have more details next week.

There are several excellent articles summarized and linked in Andrew Albanese’s Publisher’s Weekly “This Week in Libraries,” including a discussion of the Edward Snowden book in the context of Banned Books Week, free speech, and the suit by the DOJ seeking to freeze Snowden’s profits from the book.  Albanese observes: “there are many ways to ban a book.”  And Kent Oliver, director of Nashville Public Library, connects the Macmillan embargo to the freedom to read.  Finally, a Virginia librarian is using Twitter to protest eBook pricing. Visit the page every Friday (typically) for lots of library e-book news.

Also in PW, Sari Feldman has continued her regular column despite retiring as the director of Cuyahoga County Public Library.  She writes about eBook restrictions and what they might mean for readers’ advisory.

 Jessamyn West, a regular columnist for Computers In Libraries, has dedicated her column to eBook restrictions.  If you missed her article earlier this summer on CNN.com, it’s worth reading.

 My 2 cents…it’s very good to keep the publisher restrictions top-of-mind in the press, but talking about the restrictions won’t change them.  If libraries want change, we need to follow words with actions.

Carmi Parker, WCLS

Nate Hoffelder Takes on the Myth that Libraries Are Killing Retail E-books

The “Digital Reader,” Nate Hoffelder, has written a post disputing the belief that “because people can get a library ebook, they won't buy the retail ebook.”

He argues “This demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of consumer behavior”:

The underlying premise for this belief is that because people can get a library ebook, they won't buy the retail ebook. This demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of consumer behavior.

We can regard consumer behavior as a decision tree, and in this case the questions near the top are:

·         Is this title available in my preferred format?

·         Can I afford to buy this title? Is it worth the cost?

·         Can I get this title at the library?

Here's the thing the legacy industry misunderstands about that third question: the consumer is not looking for their preferred format in the library; they are simply checking availability. The consumer cares less about format than about access; if they can borrow a print book, they will read it.

This runs contrary to the legacy industry assumption that if they deny the consumer the library ebook then the consumer will buy a copy of the ebook.

Mr. Hoffelder asserts that “the idea that library ebooks affect ebook sales more so than high retail ebook prices requires a unique level of denial. Y'all are running around talking about how wonderful the emperor's new robe looks.”

The post is well worth a read.

Mr. Hoffelder’s point that it is not library sales but the retail price of e-books that discourages sales hits home. That library readers are often format neutral is axiomatic: most, as Mr. Hoffelder notes, will use print or digital. As RF has noted elsewhere, consumers for whatever reason are unwilling to pay $12.99 or $14.99 for an e-book but will buy the print at the same (or even slightly higher) cost. Hence the large growth of sales of Indie e-books at a fraction of the cost. Many of the large publishers also ignore how people who first check out items in the library (or learn about them through the library but get tired of waiting on our limited e-books) go on to buy the items.

Mr. Hoffelder, thanks for pointing out that the Emperor Has No Clothes.

Blackstone Boycott News

RF Working Group Member Carmi Parker recently posted the Blackstone Boycott News of the Week:

A new media mention for the Blackstone boycott

The online news site Digital Trends called this week to talk about the Blackstone boycott as part of a larger article on publisher restrictions. It’s a great read, covering several different aspects of the impact that embargoes have.

ALA takes action!

As you probably know [and as posted on RF], ALA has launched a petition for libraries to share with the public, asking specifically that Macmillan drop its embargo. If you want to post to your library’s social media and invite your patrons to sign, you can find suggested text (with all the hashtags) here. I asked ALA a question about the petition and learned that it is one step in a larger strategy, so it will be interesting to see how this develops.

Thanks, Carmi, for your continued attention to the boycott and for citing Jenny McGrath’s Digital Trends post, which gives a fine overview of recent developments. It is a great read, and, yes, it will be interesting to see how the ALA campaign develops.

Thank you , ALA, but . . . .

The ALA has announced “the launch of ALA’s Libraries Transform Book Pick, a new digital reading program in collaboration with Rakuten OverDrive, which connects readers nationwide by offering free access to the same ebook through their public libraries.

The first selection is the new riveting post-apocalyptic novel After the Flood by Kassandra Montag. The ebook will be available with no waitlists or holds from October 7-21, 2019. Public libraries in the U.S. already partnering with OverDrive can lend ebook copies of After the Flood at no cost during the two-week program. Readers will only need a library card and the Libby app to download a copy.

To help public libraries promote the program and encourage checkouts, free marketing resources are available, including a flyer template, social media graphics, a sample press release and more.”

Thanks are indeed due to the ALA for the launch, to OverDrive and Booklist for partnering, to Miss Montag, and to HarperCollins for supporting the event. HC, an additional thanks for not piling on in the recent Big 5 stampede to disadvantage librry readers. if you would just give each library the option for one OC/OU perpetual license , allowing us to buy a wider range of your titles, especially non-fiction or less popular fiction, you’d be our best friend. Thanks for not moving to time bound licenses!

BUT (you knew the kvetching was coming), next time, ALA, how’s about expanding the initiative to include more library vendors? Could the ALA reach out to Harper Collins to extend the campaign to other vendors? Would Bibliotheca or Baker & Taylor, for instance, never want to join? It seems unlikely that any technical reason prevent them. Is selecting one vendor limiting competition and disadvantaging libraries with other vendors? At a time when many publishers—not you, HC, and thanks again!— seem determined to limit library access, maybe we need an even bigger read next time.

The Ohio Library Council Board Addresses Three of the 5 and Blackstone

The Ohio Library Council’s Board has passed a resolution calling for “Blackstone Audio, Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster, to reconsider these recently announced restrictive and onerous policies and engage in a meaningful and direct dialogue with libraries, library consortia, library associations, authors, and other relevant stakeholders for the purpose of creating new policies that ensure equitable access to all of Ohio’s citizens.”

OLC cites many reasons:

“WHEREAS, the U.S. publishing industry earned $25.83 billion in revenue in 2018, with downloaded audio experiencing 28.7% growth over 2017; and

WHEREAS, the major publishers have recently announced new policies for eBooks and eAudiobooks that severely limits public libraries’ ability to purchase, or delays the purchase, of digital copies of materials and information; and

WHEREAS, these restrictive policies directly impact the ability of public libraries to serve all Ohioans and adequately provide access to materials and information; and

WHEREAS, the new eBook and eAudiobook policies represent a significant financial burden impacting taxpayer supported public libraries’ overall operations and services, spending millions of dollars in 2018 on eBooks and eAudiobooks; and

WHEREAS, these arbitrary limitations make it difficult for libraries to fulfill their central mission of ensuring access to information for all and regardless of socioeconomic status.”

RF thanks the OLC Board for their stand and supports their call for the publishers to reconsider. We hope this is but the start of a state-wide campaign in Ohio to bring attention to the deleterious effects these changes will have on readers.

Thanks to Carmi Parker for bringing this matter to RF!

ASGCLA Update on ALA's #eBooksForAll Campaign

The Association of Specialized, Government, and Cooperative Library Agencies has released an update, as follows:

“Here’s more about ALA’s position on the issue.

The centerpiece of this campaign is a petition site, and before you read further GO SIGN IT! OK, you’re back and ready to keep reading? Cool – check out what we’ve done so far:

·         4,000+ uses of the hashtag #eBooksForAll to date on Twitter

·         ALA’s Facebook livestream of the news conference – which featured Patrick Losinski. Chief Executive Officer, Columbus Metropolitan Library; Mary Ghikas; Ramiro S. Salazar, San Antonio Public Library Director and President of the Public Library Association; and Kent Oliver, Library Director, Nashville Public Library -- thus far has had 2.2K views, reached more than 8,300 people and had 300+ engagements.

·         We got incredible exposure via earned media in the AP (with more than 2,600 news sites in the U.S. and Canada posting the piece) as well Slate, Publishers Weekly , EContent, and NPR Nashville -- with more stories to be posted soon.

·         As of 4:00 today, we were at more than 5,000 signatures on our petition.

·         We will be developing a suite of tools at eBooksForAll.org in the next several days, and we’ll update you very soon when those are available.

In the meantime, we would be grateful for your help spreading the word. Here are some samples you can share with your teams/members/friends/family:

Facebook:

Macmillan Publishers is trying to limit your access to eBooks via your public library. Join readers and libraries across the country in opposing their new policy scheduled to begin November 1. Sign the #eBooksForAll petition now, and tell Macmillan that access to eBooks should not be delayed or denied: eBooksForAll.org

Twitter:

.@MacmillanUSA is trying to limit your access to eBooks via your public library. Join @ALAlibrary & libraries across the country in opposing their new policy, scheduled to begin Nov 1. Sign the #eBooksForAll petition now: eBooksForAll.org

Sample email/newsletter copy:

America’s libraries are committed to promoting literacy and a love of reading with diverse collections, programs and services for all ages. In an increasingly digital world, libraries are investing more in eBooks and downloadable media, and thousands of people discover and explore new and favorite authors through both digital and print collections.

 But now one publisher has decided to limit readers’ access to new eBook titles. Beginning November 1, 2019, Macmillan Publishers will allow libraries to purchase only one copy of each new eBook title for the first eight weeks after a book’s release.

Libraries and readers alike cannot stay silent! 

The American Library Association and libraries across the country are asking you to voice your opposition to Macmillan's new policy by signing this petition and telling Macmillan CEO John Sargent that access to eBooks should not be delayed or denied. We must have #eBooksForAll!

Visit eBooksForAll.org today and share the news widely.”

RF appreciates ALA’s leadership on this effort. Please let your voices, individually and organizationally, be heard.