Two Colorado Libraries To Sell and Lend eBooks

Two libraries in Colorado are teaming up with the Colorado Independent Publishers Associatian (CIPA) to offer a unique eBook circulation model. With the guidance of CIPA, the Red Rocks Community College Library and Douglas County Libraries will be able to buy and store eBooks, and incorporate them into their catalogs. Plus, those libraries may even sell copies of eBooks directly to patrons.

According to Jamie LaRue, director of the Douglas County Libraries who spoke with Library Journal, this new partnership came as a result of HarperCollins’ recently imposed limitations on how many times a library may lend out an eBook. The publisher’s change in policy, which limits an eBook’s lifespan to 26 check-outs, drew harsh reactions from librarians across the country. Among other concerns, critics have cited the excessive costs to libraries that this new plan would entail.

CIPA will count on the libraries to manage file access and guard against piracy. However, the program will also offer library patrons the option to buy eBooks, if they don’t wish to wait for a copy on loan. LaRue said that this purchase model will demonstrate how libraries contribute to the eBook market while giving institutions the autonomy to manage the titles themselves (something publishing behemoths such as HarperCollins don’t allow).

LaRue also noted that the partnership promotes the libraries’ goal of offering the most interesting, diverse selection of materials to the public—something he says is best achieved through collaboration with smaller publishers. LaRue said he hopes to have 100 independently published eBooks in his libraries’ catalogs by June. Wonder if they’ll start lending out eReaders as well?

via Library Journal