Library checkouts of ebooks are up 52% YoY since March as libraries pay an average of $40 per copy due to publisher restrictions limiting library lending
Checkouts of digital books from a popular service are up 52 percent since March. Publishers say their easy availability hurts sales. Tweets: @kelbyray , @davidpwhelan , @bergmayer , @schoeyfield , @dwceditor , @valeriedouglasa , @shortformernie , @michellemanafy , and @goretsky Tweets: @kelbyray : Music, books, nobody pays for art anymore and it's sad. I'm guilty too, but it should have never gotten this far. https://arstechnica.com/... David Whelan / @davidpwhelan : Pandemic public library ebook demand yielded some short term publisher flexibility but licensing issues remain, esp if libraries rebalance collections towards digital https://arstechnica.com/... aggregator market: Overdrive 50k libraries, Hoopla 2.5k; title license cost $20-65 John Bergmayer / @bergmayer : a system that views libraries as bad should maybe be rethought https://www.wired.com/... Michael Schofield / @schoeyfield : Really, stop buying books. Use your library more. You already pay for it, and higher library use = improved library services, which is a cheap way to improve communities. Stop buying books. Use libraries. https://www.wired.com/... David Congdon / @dwceditor : Good article from @WIRED on the increased importance of library ebooks in the age of Covid. https://www.wired.com/... @valeriedouglasa : Traditional Publishers worry as ebooks fly off libraries' virtual shelves, but independent services like Smashwords and D2D offer Overdrive. Subscription services like KU help too. Indie Writers books are less expensive, making them more accessible https://arstechnica.com/... Ernie Smith / @shortformernie : Laws should be rewritten to give libraries the same type of digital rights that they have for physical works. https://www.wired.com/... @michellemanafy : The surging popularity of library ebooks also has heightened longstanding tensions between publishers, who fear that digital borrowing eats into their sales. https://www.wired.com/... via @wired Aryeh Goretsky / @goretsky : Tough. Publishers Worry as Ebooks Fly off Libraries' Virtual Shelves https://www.wired.com/... via @wired