But this rental idea is a good one. I’d pay the $, too.

My response is rather long so I posted it here: http://blog.peterbromberg.com/2011/03/is-boycott-of-harpercollins-right.html.

I’m hoping we’ll see some of what you’re suggesting from Library Renewal

Speedos, I don’t get, but that’s not the topic.

What I find rather confusing is if “renting” is the rational conclusion for HC, why not other publishers?

I think HC are being a bunch of greedy jerks, but you know, I think that about mean people in general.

But really, what makes HC so weak that it couldn’t keep doing as the other publishers were doing? I just don’t know. Then again, lots of things are confusing to me…like the tide coming in and out, never a miscommunication.

What I do know, there is a word for the ordering, the cataloging, the weeding, the heating, the cooling, and operating sorting machines, the word is work. That’s what librarians do when they work. They work on all those things and more.

There are even classes on how to do that stuff, no lie! If that blows your mind, there is a whole thing on answering questions that you wouldn’t believe!

So here is the thing, when they spend all that money on “renting”, I could cut in on things like, staying open, hours or salaries, things that aren’t ebooks.

Oh, that space the books take up, that’s part of the library. It’s a big part historically, really, just saying.

Now, the hosting of the ebooks, the metadata for the ebooks, etc, we are paying for that in the price of “renting”. In fact, you are paying for databases, hosting, programmers, their people (they need heating and cooling too but no sorting machines as far as I know), bandwidth and all sorts of stuff when you get the ebook.

And like, when you have one book, and you want more than one copy, you have to get another physical book, turns out with ebooks, they are just files and really easy to copy and share.

Never owning, always being a renter, not good when it comes to books, I think. You see, you are at the mercy of idiots. We all are, always, but sometimes we can elect not to be.

But that isn’t the point is it? Clearly we only serve the SUV driving well to do, you are so right on that….

The point is, we had a deal with HC and it was working fine and hell, it looks like it is working fine for the other publishers. This new deal with HC, not so much and we are a mad. Maybe mad enough not to buy their books for awhile, maybe mad enough to tell our patrons that HC is screwing them as well as the library…maybe it will spill over into a public boycott. Maybe HC won’t care, maybe News Corp. will maybe not.

Maybe you are right.

But I’m glad you are here sticking up for HC, you know they need it. Otherwise they’d be thought of as greedy jerks pulling a stunt to see how much they could get away with, before people start messing with their cash.

BTW I learned a lot about my navel, it often needs cleaning, I suggest you take a look at yours from time to time.

Thanks for the clarification on who holds the copyright. I don’t view a small “handling” charge of $0.99 as paying for something a second time. Yes, every taxpayer has contributed to the purchase of titles from OverDrive or another vendor, but my point was that by assessing this fee, the cost of the service could be almost completely recovered from the “haves”. The “have-nots” are most likely not going to have an e-book reader. Unless, of course, some libraries want to spend some of eveyrone”s money and purchase a number of readers to loan to users? And believe me, I don’t have a problem with any community deciding to make this available to everyone for “free”. What is most likely to happen though, is that the library will not increase its materials budget overall, but will rather move the money from another area of expenditures to purchase this service. Libraries are going to have to think about improving the bottom line and this would be one painless way to do so.

Yes, it is true that the library staff will have to do hand holding and training for some users, but this can also prove to be an opportunity to introduce the many other wonderful (already paid for services) such as electronic databases, programs for kids, teens and adults, etc. Amazon now sells more electronic books (by 3 to 1) than it sells print books. Libraries absolutely have to make this service available to their users or begin to go the way of the Borders book stores that were not quite nimble enough.

I don’t work in a public library, so I’m not getting the pressure those at PLs are, but do we have to buy books that only those who have to equipment to use them can read when we have an alternative? I think charging taxpayers a second time for book rental is not the solution, particularly as it once again stratifies haves and have-nots. Also – though again, not having actual experience, what do I know? – but it seems as if implementing Overdrive and having to work with patrons and their gadgetry is actually adding a whole new set of demands on libraries, not requiring less handling, just different handling.

Just place yourself in the “owner’s” position and think about it. You have bought the right to publish a book from the author. You own the copyright. This is your property. You did this in order to sell as many copies of this and make as much money out of it as possible. You don’t want to give your rights away to libraries, so you need a reasonable model for how to allow public libraries to purchase and lend this electronic book to their users. That’s when you determine that selling an electronic copy “forever” is not a wise thing to do. In electronic form a book never wears out, never gets lost, and is now available to the library to loan forever. If the library has a lot of demand, they can purchase more copies since the book can only be loaned to one person at a time.

Now back to the library’s point of view. We would ideally like to purchase the book and be able to lend an unlimited amount of copies to whomever we want and as often as we want. Universal access. If that is the model, let’s just set up a statewide or national purchasing center, buy one electronic copy and have it available to everyone. But of course, this model is not feasible – now enter the attorneys and copyright experts and all is in a tangle.

How do we compromise with a sensible solution here? Harper Collins has set up what I believe is a pretty good deal. They will “rent” this book to the library at just about $1.00 per use. At the end of the use period the book can either be deleted from the library’s inventory or it can be “renewed” for another 28 uses. The library signs up with OverDrive to provide the service without the library having to house anything on its own computers. The book is out there in the cloud to be loaned to a library user. And the library is getting smiles from their users!

Now, let’s just get OverDrive to figure out a simple way to help us charge each user at $.99 for each book borrowed. That way we can help libraries generate some sorely needed revenue. As a Nook user I would jump up and down at the chance to get a book for three weeks for $.99. And even Amazon cannot make a profit at this level (at least I don’t think they could).

If you buy this very same book in print, it has to dance through ordering, cataloging, processing, take up space on a shelf, be heated, air-conditioned, checked out and back in 100 times (maybe by our expensive book sorting equipment), be delivered across town or to the next library or half way across the state, then finally de-accesioned, sold by the Friends… Was it “cheaper” to have the real McCoy in print? In order to get 100 circulations from the Harper/Collins electronic copy you will have to “rent” it three times, but you will never have to handle the item at all.

We have entered a new era. Let’s get out in front instead of sitting back and examining our navels, whining about boycotts, and playing our usual mamby-pamby little games. (Where’s the drill sergeant when we need her??) And let’s above all, not be afraid to collect a little toll from our users who will thank us for the small price they are paying. And if anyone contributes a comment here about “we cannot charge the public” just move into this century with me, will you? Any patrons that want a “free” book can get into their $34,000 SUV, put some gas into it at $3.75 per gallon, drive to the library and pick up that book, then drive back to return it.

Users who can afford a Nook or other e-book reader can pay a very minimum amount to rent a book from the library. And most of our users are carrying around a cell phone whose service fees over three months most likely exceed the cost of public library services paid per household in a year. And quit your whining and groaning as you read this!