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October 25, 2012
If libraries want ebooks they need to buy more print books
One never knows whom one is addressing in the library service if one wants to make a suggestion to them
But... to whom it may concern... if the public library service in England wants to offer ebooks with any kind of quality to the range it offers (as it says it does) , then they have to persuade publishers that they are genuine in their support for what publishers do
And 'genuine' means they have to buy and hold more print books than they currently do
In turn that means finding more money out of declining budgets to buy print books- and that means total and ruthless simplification and standardisation of the supply chains and buying processes- so that there is more money to spend .
This is the discipline that they have neglected to face over twenty years. ... but in Perkins' view... the matter is now in their hands.
Publishers won't let public libraries lend ebooks unless public libraries put more cash in the hands of those publishers.
It isn't about Governments, or committees, or professional bodies -it's about librarians. And if they fail there is no point in them blaming everyone else, as they normally do. It is entirely up to the SCL, CILIP, and the managers of library budgets. No good, any longer, looking elsewhere.
The public is marginally interested - but if they get their ebooks elsewhere, they won't mind. If librarians want to be useful, then now is the time to show that they can be.
Posted by Perkins at October 25, 2012 12:46 PM