Josh Hadro, Library Journal, moderator
Robin Nesbitt, Technical Services Director, Columbus Metropolitan Library: Last year budget about 40K but this year 350K budgeted for ebooks and expect to double by end of year, circulation going through the roof, very excited by Amazon announcement. Trying to figure out how to buy the backlist – the first one in the series, for example. Holds for ebooks is 4 to one and for print 2 to one. Still buying HarperCollins. One good thing is that at least HarperCollins is playing in the field. When hit the 26 number, will probably buy another copy. Think that people have forgotten that we already went through this with periodicals and aggregators. Nooks very popular. People want mobile access on Kindles and phones. Ereaders bring up questions of access and haves and have nots. Customers don’t understand why they have to wait for ebooks – it’s digital they say. Amazon and Apple have set the bars for ease of use.
Michael Colford, Director Resource Services and IT, Boston Public Library: ebook usage skyrocketed after Christmas, budget this year is about 105K and with budget constraints ebook budget is the only one that is growing. Audio growing fast as well. Working with Internet Archive as well as OverDrive. Will need to bump the budget and take money for other areas. For print, 6 out buy another copy, dropping this to 4 for ebooks to encourage new usage. Getting state funding because ebooks can support anyone in the state. Next year ebook budget will triple. Not buying HarperCollins ebooks because can’t plan for future with books that disappear. Once senior citizens figure out how to use it they become evangelists. Getting ebooks onto devices is still hard for a lot of people. Would love to see a subscription pricing model for ebooks. Libraries are great to introduce patrons to backlist and midlist authors. Are about to go into OverDrive Buy it Now program (others on the panel are not going to do it). Copyright will change drastically in the near future. Don’t want a Freegle model for ebooks (and others on panel agree).
Michael Santangelo, Electronic Resources Analyst, Brooklyn Public Library: budget a little over 100K, over 18K downloadable products with 12K being ebooks. With the Kindle announcement hope to increase the ebook budget next year. Myth: something new displaces something old. Ebooks are not replacing paper books and so can’t just shift budget money from one to the other. Hold is 8 to one cause of budget constraints and also because want to increase the number of different ebooks in the mix. Sill buying HarperCollins ebooks but will be reviewed in a couple of months. HarperCollins is one publisher that gives good discounts on ebooks. Expect to see some changes from them in the future – need to show HarperCollins hard data. Ease of use is still a barrier for patrons. Have not choice but to be optimistic about the future – in a pessimistic way. A bit worried about privacy issues.
Katie Bunneback @younglibrarian: consortium of public libraries in Iowa. Just added ebooks from OverDrive in December of last year. About 3,400 titles. 35K budget. Basically doing as-needed, emergency buys because of limited budgets. Number one question is “does Kindle work with this”. Membership of consortium decided will only buy from HarperCollins if there is a specific request for a book. Otherwise won’t buy HarperCollins. Technology is still difficult for first-time user and older people. Getting ebooks onto devices is a technology that is very hard for users. OverDrive has unlimited access option for audio books and would love to see a similar model for ebooks. Not buying e-only publications (Carina Press) because not in OverDrive and when they get into OverDrive will buy them. Kindle is easiest ereader for patrons to use.
