59. The FUTURE of Libraries (NEWS -- A National Public Radio report)

The Future
of Libraries
in
the E-Book Age
 
Copyright
©2011
National Public Radio®

Heard on

"All Things

Considered"

[radio

broadcast]

April 4, 2011

MICHELE NORRIS,

host:

A lot of attention
has been paid
to the way
bookstores
and
publishing companies
are managing
the
e-book revolution.

But far less
has been paid
to the role of libraries.

When Harper Collins
recently announced
that it would limit
the number of times
its e-books
can be borrowed,
it sparked
a larger conversation
about
the future of libraries
in the digital age.

NPR's

Lynn Neary

has the story.

LYNN NEARY:

You don't have to go

anywhere near a library

to check out an e-book.

You can download it

onto

your digital device

in a matter of seconds.

And there's no more

pesky overdue notices.

The e-book

simply

disappears

from your device

when

your time is up.

Mr. ELI NEIBURGER

(Director for IT

and Production,

Ann Arbor

District Library):

The fact is

that

with

a digital item,

if you give it

to somebody,

you

still have it.

It doesn't have to

come back.

NEARY:

Eli Neiburger

is the director

for IT and production

at the

Ann Arbor District Library

in Michigan.

E-books,

says Neiburger,

are really

digital files.

But libraries

and publishers

are

still trying

to deal with them

as if

they're

just like print books.

And they're trying

to do business

the way they

have always done business.

Mr. NEIBURGER:

Part of

the models

that we've seen

so far

are still trying

to force

20th century

business models

onto

digital content.

And

any digital native says:

"What,

you mean

I have to wait

to download

an e-book?

What sense

does that make?"

And they're off

to the Kindle store

to spend -

what -- you know,

$3.99 or $4.99 or $9.99

to get

that same book.

NEARY:

In the current climate,

libraries worry

they'll

become obsolete.

Publishers

are afraid

they

won't be able

to make

any money.

That's why

Harper Collins

came up with

a new

e-book policy,

which says

its e-books

can only be checked out

26 times

before they

have to be

re-purchased.

Leslie Hulse,

a senior vice president

at Harper Collins,

says publishers

have to place

some limitations

on the way

libraries

loan e-books.

Ms. LESLIE HULSE

(Senior Vice President,

Harper Collins):

So I think

the tension is,

at the extreme:

we could be

making a book

available

to

one national library

on

a simultaneous access

model,

in

perpetuity.

And what that

would mean

is that

everyone

in the country

could check out

that book

for free

at any time.

And that's not

a --

sort of --

a commercially

viable

solution.

NEARY:

Harper Collins

may have

raised the ire

of librarians

around the country

with

their new e-book policy.

But

Christopher Platt,

director of

Collections and Circulation

at the

New York Public Library,

says

the move

has also stimulated

a lot more

public discussion

about

"the future

of libraries

and e-books".

Mr. CHRISTOPHER PLATT

(Director

of Collections

and Circulation,

New York Public Library):

The Harper Collins

limit

of 26 checkouts

per item

isn't going to stick.

It's going to

develop into

something new.

And Harper,

to their credit,

is very engaged

with libraries,

and

reaching out to them now

to see,

really,

what would work.

NEARY:

Platt

has his own ideas

about

what might work

for the future.

He says

libraries

use intermediaries

to manage

both

their physical

and

digital book

collections.

He thinks

libraries

could work with

these intermediaries

to develop

subscription packages

of e-books.

Libraries

would pay

the publishers

for

these subscriptions,

and

use them

as they see fit.

Mr. PLATT:

So

I'd buy a title

"with

a thousand uses",

right?

And then

it's up to us

and our readers --

the library readers --

whether those

"thousand uses"

get used

simultaneously

in the first few days,

or

whether

they're

drawn out

over time.

And then

if

they do get used

very quickly,

we'll buy more.

NEARY:

Eli Neiburger

has

a more

radical idea.

He thinks

libraries

could deal

directly

with

Content Providers.

Mr. NEIBURGER:

The goal

of the library

is

to obtain

the ability

to

distribute content

to

its public.

And if we

can do that

easier

and more cheaply

with

the rights-holder

or

the artist themselves,

and

they make

more money on it --

you know,

it may be

heretical

but,

you know,

the future usually is.

NEARY:

That idea

has potential,

says

Christopher Platt,

but

it may not be practical

in the long run.

Mr. PLATT:

In

some scenarios,

that will happen,

and that

will grow.

You will see

more original content

coming

into library collections,

going forward.

And I think

that's

a wonderful thing,

especially

if

libraries

play a role

in

the creation

of

that content.

But,

on

a regular matter

of just

ordering,

at scale,

the number

of e-books

that we add

to our collection --

that's

a very difficult thing

to manage.

NEARY:

From

the traditional

to

the visionary,

the conversation

about libraries

in the digital age

has begun

in earnest.

Roberta Stevens,

president of

the American

Library Association,

wants more

publishing companies

to

get involved

in the conversation

because

at the moment,

some publishers

aren't even willing

to sell e-books

to libraries.

Libraries

may be able

to survive

without those books

now,

says Stevens.

But in the future,

a lot of books

will

only be available

electronically.

Mr. ROBERTA STEVENS

(President,

American Library Association):

When

we look

at the future,

then we have

to

really think

very seriously

about

"What is our role?".

And

how can we

actually serve

the millions and millions

of people

who use

our public libraries

every day

if we can't even

get access

to titles?

NEARY:

Libraries

have always

been thought of

as

a kind of

temple of books;

a place

you can go to

for peace and quiet,

a place

to read

and think.

They're

an intricate part

of the fabric

that pulls

a community

together.

But if they are

to be

relevant

in the future,

they'll have to

make space

for themselves

in

the digital community

as well.

+++

Lynn Neary,

NPR News, Washington.

Copyright © 2011

National Public Radio®.

+++

[Found online at: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=135117829]