Publishers Look to Bottom Line in Formulating Ebook Policies for Libraries

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Publisher Limits Shelf Life for Library E-Books. (The New York Times, 3/15/2011)

Excerpt: Publishers are nervous that e-book borrowing in libraries will cannibalize e-book retail sales. They also lose out on revenue realized as libraries replace tattered print books or supplement hardcover editions with paperbacks, a common practice. Sales to libraries can account for 7 to 9 percent of a publisher’s overall revenue, two major publishers said.

But e-books have downsides for libraries, too. Many libraries dispose of their unread books through used-book sales, a source of revenue that unread e-books can’t provide.

The American Library Association has assembled two task forces to study the issue.

Presidential Task Force on Equitable Access to Electronic Content (EQUACC).
OITP E-Book Task Force.