Richard Mollet, Chief Executive of the Publishers Association (PA), has released a statement on the PA's position on e-lending in public libraries. According to the statement, Faber CEO Stephen Page's speech at the CILIP PLA conference outlined the close and supportive partnership between publishers and libraries, and the particular importance of this during tougher economic times.
According to a media report by The Bookseller, Page informed conference delegates that major trade publishers have agreed to work with aggregators to make it possible for libraries to offer e-book lending, with the addition of certain controls. Further, he said that the guidelines have been developed because of concerns over free e-book lending offered by some libraries to lenders "wherever you are" in breach of publisher contracts.
The new guidelines also require patrons to be physically present at a library branch in order to download an e-book for borrowing. Rather than downloading the book remotely, library users will now have to come to the library's physical premises to download an e-book at a computer terminal onto a mobile device.
The PA position on e-book lending has attracted some negative comments from Bookseller readers. According to Page, the PA's new position on e-book lending had been forged after some library authorities mismanaged their lending.
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