Awkwardlyforpublishers,buyingane—bookcostsmorethanrentingonebutofferslittleextravalue.
Youcannotresellit。lendittoafriendorburnittostaywarm.Owningabookisusefulifyouwanttosavor(品尝)itrepeatedly,butwhoreads“FiftyShadesofGrey”twice?
E-1endingisnotsimple.however.Therearelotsofdifferentandoftenincompatiblee-bookformats,devicesandlicences.MostlibrariesuseacompanycalledOverDrive,aglobaldistributorthatsecuresrightsfrompublishersandprovidese-booksandaudiofilesineveryformat.YetpublishersandlibrariesareworriedbyOverDrive’smarketdominance,asthecompanycanincreasinglydictatefeesandconditions.
Libraryboostersarguethatbookborrowersarealsobookbuyers,andthatlibrariesarevitalspacesforreaderstodiscovernewwork.Manywere.cheeredbyarecentPewsurvey,whichfoundthatmorethanhalfofAmericanswithHorarycardssaytheyprefertobuytheire-books.Butthereportalsonotedthatfewpeopleknowthate-booksareavailableatmostlibraries,andthatpopulartitlesofteninvolvelongwaitinglists,whichmaybewhatinspirespeopletobuy.
Sopublisherskeepadjustingtheirlendingarrangementsin:searchoftherightbalance.RandomHouseraiseditslicensingpricesearlierthisyear,andHarperCollinslimitslibrariestolendingitstitles26times.
Hachitaisengagedinsomesecretexperiments,andtheothersarewatchingwithheldbreath.InBritainthegovernmentwillsoonannounceareviewofthematter.Thestoryofthelibrarye-bookisanail-biter.