This is the written statement. The oral was a bit shorter, leaving out most of the checkout info.
Statement of Art
Brodsky
Member, Montgomery
County Library Board
Before the House of
Delegates Economic Matters Committee on HB 244
January 29, 2014
Chairman Davis, members of the Committee, I'm Art Brodsky
from Olney, Maryland, a member of the Montgomery County Library Board.
I would like to begin by thanking Delegate Eric Luedtke for
his leadership on this important issue, to his cosponsors for their support,
and to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this timely and important hearing.
This piece of legislation has one goal: to allow libraries in the state of Maryland
to save money. If enacted, it would ease
some of the pressure on libraries which have seen their budgets increasingly
stressed in the past few years.
Demand for e-books is rising exponentially across the
state. Let me cite a couple of examples,
which are illustrated in charts attached to my testimony. In January 2011, there were 12,446 e-book
checkouts in the entire state. Figures
from Prince George's County are not included because the county is not part of
the statewide e-book consortium. By the
end of 2013, that number had risen to 90,284.
In my county alone, which accounts for about a quarter of the checkouts
in the state, there were 3,025 e-book checkouts in January 2011. By the end of 2013, that number had risen to
22,257 e-book checkouts. Those trends
are projected to continue, particularly as the digital-native generation, those
children and young adults raised with tablets and hand-held devices, grow up.
The problem is that not all books are created equal. If you look at the pricing chart submitted
with my testimony, you will see what I mean.
John Grisham's new novel, Sycamore Row, has two sets of prices, one for
print and one for e-books. The prices
libraries pay for printed books are within a dollar or so per copy of the price
consumers pay.
But look at the disparity for e-books. Libraries pay $85 for one copy of the book,
while consumers can get the same book for as little as $6.49. Similarly, Donna Tartt's best-seller, the
Goldfinch, has very similar prices for printed books. Yet libraries pay $90 for one e-book -- the
same book for which consumers pay as little as $7.50.
To meet demands of their customers, libraries must spend
more and get less.
There are two groups who oppose the bill in its original
form. The books publishers oppose this
bill because they believe e-books are software, not books, and should be
treated accordingly. They believe that
e-books do not deteriorate as do printed books, and so justify their high
price.
However, publishers miss three crucial points. First, not all books deteriorate. Many books in the library are in very good
shape and are readable years after publication.
Second, technology deteriorates. E-book formats used today may be obsolete in
a few years. Just as content from
recording devices from the 1940s can't be recovered now because there are no
longer wire recorders, the standards and readers of the future will be much
different from what we have today. You
can pick up a book published in the 1940s and read it as easily as one
published yesterday
Third, tastes change.
Even assuming that e-books last forever, readers' tastes don't. In 2011, The Help was at the top of the
Times' fiction best-seller list for 15 weeks.
Readers had a long wait for copies in their libraries. Today, the library has 75 copies of the
printed book, and 44 are available for checkout. It has one copy of the e-book, and that one
is also available.
Regrettably, the second group opposing this bill is the
American Library Association, for reasons I cannot imagine. It is
tragic that a group purporting to represent local libraries and library
professionals would oppose legislation that would have saved its members
hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.
It is terribly disappointing that the national association objected to
this worthwhile legislation that could have gone a long way to helping out its
Maryland members in times of budgetary challenges.
I understand that changes will be made to this bill. I support those because they recognize there
is a problem in discriminatory pricing and will continue to keep this important
issue before the public.
|
Douglas County
Libraries Report
|
|
Pricing Comparison as of January 3, 2014
|
|
BOOKS
|
EBOOKS
|
|
Consumer Pricing
|
Library Pricing
|
Library Pricing
|
Consumer Pricing
|
|
Fiction (NYTimes)
|
Baker & Taylor (1)
|
Ingram (2)
|
Amazon
|
Barnes & Noble
|
Overdrive
|
3M
|
Bilbary
|
Amazon
|
Barnes & Noble
|
|
1
|
Sycamore Row
|
$16.04
|
$15.92
|
$14.87
|
$16.08
|
$85.00
|
$85.00
|
$12.99
|
$6.49
|
$6.49
|
|
2
|
Doctor Sleep
|
$16.62
|
$16.50
|
$15.00
|
$16.99
|
$19.99
|
*
|
$14.99
|
$7.99
|
$7.99
|
|
3
|
Command Authority
|
$16.59
|
$16.47
|
$16.90
|
$17.23
|
$18.99
|
$18.99
|
*
|
$6.06
|
$6.49
|
|
4
|
The Goldfinch
|
$16.62
|
$16.50
|
$15.41
|
$16.66
|
$90.00
|
$90.00
|
$14.99
|
$7.50
|
$14.99
|
|
5
|
Inferno
|
$16.59
|
$16.47
|
$15.38
|
$16.82
|
$85.00
|
$85.00
|
$14.99
|
$6.49
|
$6.49
|
|
6
|
Cross My Heart
|
$16.07
|
$15.95
|
$14.50
|
$16.11
|
$87.00
|
$87.00
|
$13.99
|
$7.50
|
$14.99
|
|
7
|
Takedown Twenty
|
$15.51
|
$15.40
|
$14.00
|
$16.27
|
$84.00
|
$84.00
|
$13.99
|
$6.49
|
$6.49
|
|
8
|
Gods of Guilt
|
$15.51
|
$15.40
|
$16.13
|
$16.45
|
$84.00
|
$84.00
|
*
|
$11.39
|
$11.99
|
|
9
|
First Phone Call from Heaven
|
$13.84
|
$13.74
|
$12.83
|
$14.03
|
$19.99
|
$19.99
|
$16.99
|
$8.49
|
$8.49
|
|
10
|
The Longest Ride
|
$14.96
|
$14.85
|
$13.87
|
$15.16
|
$81.00
|
$81.00
|
$12.99
|
$6.49
|
$12.99
|
|
11
|
King and Maxwell
|
$15.51
|
$15.40
|
$15.55
|
$15.86
|
$84.00
|
$84.00
|
$14.99
|
$8.99
|
$13.49
|
|
12
|
Innocence
|
$15.51
|
$15.40
|
$15.99
|
$16.31
|
$84.00
|
$84.00
|
*
|
$6.49
|
$6.49
|
|
13
|
The Husband's Secret
|
$14.38
|
$14.27
|
$13.33
|
$14.59
|
$16.99
|
$16.99
|
$12.99
|
$5.99
|
$11.99
|
|
14
|
Fifty Shades of Grey
|
$9.57
|
$9.41
|
$9.57
|
$10.04
|
$47.85
|
$47.85
|
$10.17
|
$4.99
|
$7.99
|
|
15
|
Dark Witch
|
$10.20
|
$10.03
|
$8.73
|
$9.23
|
$12.99
|
$12.99
|
$9.99
|
$4.99
|
$4.99
|
|
Non-Fiction (NYTimes)
|
|
1
|
Things that Matter
|
$15.51
|
$15.40
|
$16.80
|
$16.96
|
$84.00
|
$84.00
|
$12.99
|
$10.91
|
$10.91
|
|
2
|
Killing Jesus
|
$15.51
|
$15.40
|
$14.00
|
$15.73
|
*
|
*
|
$12.99
|
$6.49
|
$10.99
|
|
3
|
Lone Survivor
|
$15.51
|
$13.79
|
$22.08
|
$22.30
|
$38.00
|
$38.00
|
$8.99
|
$3.99
|
$7.99
|
|
4
|
David and Goliath
|
$16.07
|
$15.95
|
$15.95
|
$15.95
|
$87.00
|
$87.00
|
$14.99
|
$7.50
|
$14.99
|
|
5
|
George Washington's Secret Six
|
$15.48
|
$15.37
|
$14.35
|
$16.63
|
$16.99
|
$16.99
|
$12.99
|
$10.91
|
$10.91
|
|
Children's Middle Grade (NYTimes)
|
|
1
|
Wonder
|
$8.86
|
$8.79
|
$8.21
|
$8.88
|
$15.99
|
$15.99
|
$9.99
|
$7.59
|
$7.99
|
|
2
|
Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims
|
$11.07
|
$10.99
|
$11.44
|
$11.55
|
$14.99
|
*
|
$10.99
|
$5.99
|
$11.99
|
|
3
|
Frozen
|
$2.99
|
$2.94
|
$4.99
|
$4.99
|
*
|
*
|
*
|
$3.80
|
$3.99
|
|
4
|
I Even Funnier
|
$11.50
|
$7.69
|
$7.78
|
$7.85
|
$42.00
|
$42.00
|
*
|
$7.39
|
$7.39
|
|
5
|
Flora and Ulysses
|
$14.21
|
$9.89
|
$10.12
|
$10.32
|
$17.99
|
$18.89
|
$12.32
|
$9.17
|
$10.45
|
|
Young Adult (NYTimes)
|
|
1
|
The Book Thief
|
$11.07
|
$9.36
|
$7.21
|
$7.35
|
$12.99
|
$12.99
|
$10.17
|
$4.99
|
$4.99
|
|
2
|
The Fault in our Stars
|
$9.97
|
$9.89
|
$8.99
|
$9.99
|
$16.99
|
$16.99
|
$10.99
|
$3.99
|
$5.49
|
|
3
|
Looking for Alaska
|
$10.52
|
$8.95
|
$5.99
|
$9.99
|
$12.99
|
$12.99
|
$9.99
|
$3.99
|
$7.99
|
|
4
|
Paper Towns
|
$10.52
|
$9.89
|
$5.99
|
$9.99
|
$12.99
|
$12.99
|
$9.99
|
$5.69
|
$5.69
|
|
5
|
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
|
$8.40
|
$8.26
|
$7.86
|
$8.01
|
$13.99
|
*
|
$10.20
|
$6.99
|
$8.49
|
|
source: 1/12/14 issue NYTimes (combined print & ebook:
fiction & non-fiction)
|
|
*
|
Not available for sale
|
Douglas County Libraries is the public library of Douglas
County, Colorado, headquartered in Castle Rock, CO.
|
|
1
|
Discounted pricing as advertised on website
|
Our annual collection budget (2014) is $3.5 million. We
serve a population of just under 300,000.
|
|
2
|
Actual
|
For more information, contact Karen Gargan, Associate
Director of Finance, kgargan@dclibraries.org.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
