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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Surprisingly Big Business of Library E-books. from The New Yorker
If you ever wondered about library e-books....
https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/an-app-called-libby-and-the-surprisingly-big-business-of-library-e-books
The Surprisingly Big Business of Library E-books
Increasingly, books are something that libraries do not own but borrow from the corporations that do.
...
The sudden shift to e-books had enormous practical and financial implications, not only for OverDrive but for public libraries across the country. Libraries can buy print books in bulk from any seller that they choose, and, thanks to a legal principle called the first-sale doctrine, they have the right to lend those books to any number of readers free of charge. But the first-sale doctrine does not apply to digital content. For the most part, publishers do not sell their e-books or audiobooks to librariesthey sell digital distribution rights to third-party venders, such as OverDrive, and people like Steve Potash sell lending rights to libraries. These rights often have an expiration date, and they make library e-books a lot more expensive, in general, than print books, Michelle Jeske, who oversees Denvers public-library system, told me. Digital content gives publishers more power over prices, because it allows them to treat libraries differently than they treat other kinds of buyers.
Longer article in above link.
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The Surprisingly Big Business of Library E-books. from The New Yorker (Original Post)
IcyPeas
Sep 2021
OP
emmaverybo
(8,144 posts)1. Terrific for library patrons.
nilram
(2,879 posts)2. Not so terrific for taxpayers
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)4. Precisely
ZonkerHarris
(24,155 posts)3. k&r
Klaralven
(7,510 posts)5. Expiration of rights solves the problem of "weeding the collection"
And eventually, shelves can be cleared. New buildings are not needed.