American Library Association (ALA) President Molly Raphael recently led an ALA delegation to New York to meet separately with representatives from publishers Penguin, Macmillan, Random House, Simon & Schuster and Perseus. The representatives at these meetings included CEOs, division presidents and other executives.
Acknowledging that the e-book format will continue to accelerate, as will e-content in general, Raphael said that, despite their common mission of linking authors and readers, libraries and publishers have some goals that diverge. She said the discussions with publishers who already sell e-books to libraries focused on how to maintain and strengthen those relationships. Libraries, she said, play a key role in 'discoverability,' identifying the most relevant works for the communities they serve. The meeting revealed some misconceptions about how libraries operate. Once those issues were clarified, she said, some of the publishers' concerns were mitigated.
She said ALA agreed to provide feedback on any ideas they may have. She also said that publishers agreed to consider proposals from ALA.
One key issue that emerged was the concern of publishers that the ready download-ability of library e-books could adversely impact sales. From the viewpoint of publishers, there is some security in the 'friction' provided in borrowing a print book, which often involves two trips - one to pick up the book and another to return it.
Another issue that arose in all of the meetings was the influential role of intermediaries - aggregators or retailers - in library e-book lending.
She said there will be further communication with these five publishers, as well as contact with other publishers and intermediaries and additional activities within the framework of ALA's Digital Content and Libraries Working Group. She advised those interested to look for further communications from the co-chairs of the Working Group, the chairs of its subgroups and ALA leadership in the near future.
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