Harry Potter Ebooks Are Coming! (For a while...)

OverDrive made the announcement this morning that they have entered into an exclusive deal with J.K. Rowling and Pottermore to make the Harry Potter series of ebooks available to libraries and schools using the platform.

This is really exciting news for us, as the requests for them really haven't waned at all, and the ebooks are not available for retail purchase yet. While no official word has been made about the release date, everything (including OverDrive's Content Reserve) is pointing to April 30 as the date when they will be available through OverDrive.

That is the good news...

Last week we noted that there was a publisher that was offering ebooks with duration purchases - not checkout limits per se, but a statement that "Units expire 5 years after the units become available for circulation". This is also the case for all the Harry Potter titles - ebooks and audiobooks.

So, not the constrictive 26-checkout limit that HarperCollins ebooks have, but a limit nonetheless. A lot can happen in five years, for sure. However, it makes you wonder whether this is something that is foretelling a change of licensing terms for digital downloads for the future?

With Ebooks, Libraries Play Monkey In The Middle

Did anyone miss yesterday's announcement that Penguin has severed its contract with OverDrive? By now, I doubt it.

This means that we no longer have any Penguin titles available to purchase for library lending, ebook or audiobook. For now, what has been purchased is staying in the catalog, but that a "continuation contract" is under negotiation.

Worse was this news, from the OverDrive announcement (again, after the news hit the internet waves):

Starting tomorrow (February 10, 2012), Penguin will no longer offer additional copies of eBooks and download audiobooks for library purchase. Additionally, Penguin eBooks loaned for reading on Kindle devices will need to be downloaded to a computer then transferred to the device over USB. For library patrons, this means Penguin eBooks will no longer be available for over-the-air delivery to Kindle devices or to Kindle apps. (Emphasis mine)

 So, not only can we not get any more copies of Penguin titles (The Help, you are stuck with a 7:1 holds ratio, now and forever), but anyone borrowing a Kindle ebook that happens to be a Penguin title is going to have to do the sideload process that is done with other dedicated ereaders, like the Nook.

This is going to be a major instructional issue. It has been difficult enough for us (more so for my colleagues in the libraries, since we train them) who have patrons coming in with their Kindle still in the box and asking how to use it. Now we will have to explain that some ebooks will work this way and others will work that way?

I believe that libraries are caught like the monkey in the middle. Patrons are lobbing balls of ebook demands we can hardly afford to keep up with these days; publishers are lobbing balls of access we cannot reach anymore. We are being thrown balls of different ereaders, different formats, different ways to get them. Issues of piracy and lost sales are thrown around, but no one is catching them and proving that they really exist.

So, while choking off library lending of ebooks may end up bringing sales that may not have happened (since it will be the only legal way to acquire them), publishers are also choking off a valuable resource of library lending: reader's advisory. I have heard more than once from libraries that patrons are giving up on ebooks from us because they "can't find anything". Half the time we may not know what to recommend if the availability is going to change from month to month. I hope that publishers understand that while yes, you are going to have people that will buy the book because they cannot get it from the library, you will also have people wondering what in the world is going on.

And we will have to tell them what we know.

That you are "looking for a suitable model", that you have "concerns" about piracy, about pricing, about making sure that you don't lose sales. We will explain that publishers think we just let anyone who visits our website have ebooks. With the amount of frantic emails I receive weekly about not being able to download from the digital catalog because their card is expired, I find this thought...uninformed, at best.

I just read Librarian By Day's post from Saturday, and I understand that it really is not the libraries that publishers are against; they are against a platform model that has placed the copies in the control of a commercial vendor, not the library one. I know that I was not happy to know that Amazon would be administering all of the borrowing for Kindle copies, and maybe OverDrive was not either. However, they were doing what they could to support their patrons (libraries) and their patrons' patrons. Our patrons want Kindle copies through the library, and all in all it was working okay. Or, maybe it wasn't, in Penguin's stance. However, it is still being left to us to explain to our patrons why we do not have the same titles that they can get from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and so many other ebook retailers.

Librarians are spreading the word that it is not our decision-making that is stripping away ebook access from patrons. Those who do collection development are looking at smaller publishers to provide digital content, and those numbers are growing. We are also looking at other options, other contracts, other platforms. Truthfully, we want to make everyone happy and work with everyone to do so, but our patrons come first.

It is time to get out of the middle and start throwing the ball ourselves.


See:

The Digital Shift - Penguin Terminates Its Contract With OverDrive
Paid Content - Penguin Ends E-Book Library Lending And Relationship With OverDrive
Agnostic, Maybe - Penguin Unfriends Libraries
Librarian By Day: How to Talk to Your Patrons About Penguin and Other Publishers Not Loaning eBooks to Libraries
The Digital Reader - ALA Met With Major Publishers - Nothing Has Changed

New Penguin Ebooks No Longer Available From OverDrive (UPDATED)

This post has been updated to include links and further thoughts.

I was offline most of the weekend, but came back to discover that people are talking about missing Penguin titles. It seems there have been a lot of reports from patrons that use OverDrive that Penguin titles that were on hold in the Kindle format have disappeared off their waiting lists. Other reports are people received emails saying their title was available for checkout, only to log in and find the hold either completely missing or switched to an EPUB format. Titles that people insist were available in Kindle format until Friday are now just gone.

Checking our own catalog this morning, I ran an Advanced Search for Penguin USA in Kindle format - zero hits. Checking all other Penguin listings gave me the same results, except there do seem to be a couple titles under Penguin Adult/ePenguin Imprint that still have Kindle formats available, but that is two titles. TWO. TITLES.

That definitely does not include The Help.

No official reports have come either from OverDrive or from Penguin. Besides Twitter talk and threads on various Kindle sites, the I Love My Kindle blog has a short post musing the same questions. Hopefully one of the camps will speak up and let their customers - and our patrons - know exactly why this has happened, and if it is permanent.

UPDATE:

The Digital Shift just published a post indicating that Penguin is taking the stand that "due to new concerns about the security of our digital editions, we find it necessary to delay the availability of our new titles in the digital format while we resolve these concerns with our business partners."


From OverDrive Library Blog:

"Last week Penguin sent notice to OverDrive that it is reviewing terms for library lending of their eBooks. In the interim, OverDrive was instructed to suspend availability of new Penguin eBook titles from our library catalog and disable “Get for Kindle” functionality for all Penguin eBooks. We apologize for this abrupt change in terms from this supplier. We are actively working with Penguin on this issue and are hopeful Penguin will agree to restore access to their new titles and Kindle availability as soon as possible."

So, does this mean that we are going to see all ebook formats for Penguin new titles disappear? Or, are we just no longer going to be able to purchase new ebook titles from them? So far, what we have bought are still in our catalog, and it looks like it is going to stay that way, according to all reports. However, access to additional copies, and other new Penguin titles, is going to cease. This will make four big publishers that do not allow library lending of their new (or any) titles. Add to this the 26-loan cap for HarperCollins, libraries are going to find longer queues for digital holds, and upset patrons wondering why we do not purchase any more copies or have these titles. Publishers are putting the burden on us to explain their industry practices to people who wonder why we can't just go online and purchase the same ebooks they do. OverDrive knew last week that Penguin had made this decision, yet chose to not inform their customers about this until Monday, after changes happened.


Libraries should not be the last in line for the information that affects so many. Who is going to the table now?

More Links:

Publishers Weekly - Penguin USA drops library access
Early Word - Penguin exits OverDrive pending evaluation
Melville House - Penguin pulls ebooks from libraries in apparent slap at Amazon
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books - Oh For Gods Sake: Penguin Disallows Digital Library Lending

Amazon E-Book Subscriptions

As many have seen today, the rumor mill around Amazon is spinning once again. This time about creating a subscription lending service for ebooks. From the information being passed around now, Amazon will be bundling this into the benefits of the Amazon Prime subscription, which already gives members access to video streaming and free express shipping. As digital content become a part of people's lives, it seems to make sense that a retailer would get involved this way.

However, there is a lot of trepidation already where ebooks and publishers are involved. Sources for these stories also indicate that the publishers are not jumping on board with the idea, even if Amazon is likely to pay generously for the privilege. With Amazon already planning to partner with OverDrive to create the Kindle Lending Library service (so library patrons with Kindles can use OverDrive services) it makes a librarian wonder how this will shake things up in the ebook world now?

Read More:

Wall Street Journal: "Amazon in Talks to Launch Digital Book Library"
Wired: "Book Publishers Should Be Wary of Amazon's Subscription Plans"
PC World: "Amazon Kindle E-Book Lending Program: What It Needs To Succeed"

 

OverDrive WIN: Is it really?

OverDrive is back in the news, just before the ALA Conference down in New Orleans, giving hints at some new platform enhancements that will supposedly "balance the interests of libraries and publishers" and streamline operations and reduce staff time devoted to both collection development and format tracking.

The platform will be called OverDrive WIN and will supposedly include, among other services:

• support for the forthcoming Kindle Lending Library, plus all the platforms and devices being used by patrons
• DRM-free EPUBs
• Patron-driven acquisitions
• new collections of always available ebook titles in various genres, including romance, children, young adult

Some of these ventures sound very promising. I know that library staff, and those of us at the consortium level that have to handle support, can hit a wall with some issues. OverDrive is usually pretty responsive in assisting, and it will be good to see them take a more proactive approach with patrons directly.  I like the idea of having more subscription models, but will wait to see if they are going to be more like their current "Max Access" audiobook titles or lean toward HarperCollins decree. Patron-driven acquisitions can be hit or miss, but at least they are describing it as an opt-in feature for libraries.

All in all, I will be cautiously optimistic with this news. I will not be at ALA this year, but am sure I will get all the news from my director and all those who are attending. 

The full press release can be read here: "OverDrive to Announce Solutions for Libraries to Meet Explosive Demand for eBooks"

If I find follow up responses to this announcement, I will link to them from the blog.