Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Testifying For Lower E-Book Prices For Libraries

Maryland State Sen. Karen Montgomery and I tried our best at the Senate Finance Committee today at a hearing on a bill (SB 776) that would save libraries thousands of dollars on e-books.  It definitely didn't help when Committee Chairman Thomas Middleton said that the Maryland Library Association opposed the bill.

One hopes they will explain to Sen. Montgomery why that is.  In any case, here's my testimony:



Statement of Art Brodsky
Member, Montgomery County Library Board
Before the Senate Finance Committee on SB 776
March 12, 2014,

Chairman Middleton, members of the Committee, I'm Art Brodsky from Olney, Maryland, a member of the Montgomery County Library Board, an advisory body for our library system which has about 700,000 active card holders.

I would like to begin by thanking Senator Karen Montgomery for her leadership on this important issue, to her cosponsors for their support, and to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important hearing.

This piece of legislation has one goal:  to allow public libraries in the state of Maryland to save money.  If enacted, it would ease some of the pressure on libraries in each of your districts, in every jurisdiction, which have seen their budgets increasingly stressed in the past few years.   This stress is artificial and unnecessary, due entirely to the pricing policies of book publishers.

 We can discuss the reasoning behind those prices in a minute, but first I would like to direct your attention to two charts I have attached to this testimony.  The first is the report from the Douglas County Libraries for March 3, 2014.  This is a library system in Colorado that for the past couple of years has surveyed prices for printed books and for e-books.

The charts compare prices for printed books and for e-books as offered to consumers generally and to public libraries.  On it you will see some remarkable disparities in price.  For example, James Patterson’s new book, Private LA, published by Hachette, has a wide variation.  For printed books, the prices are within a couple of dollars for consumers and for libraries.  Now look at the e-book prices.  A consumer pays as low as $11.99, while your libraries must pay $84.00 – to lease, not to buy, one copy of the book.

Go down the list and you will see that’s standard operating procedure.  Your libraries pay $90 for Goldfinch, also from Hachette, and $85 for John Grisham’s Sycamore Row, from Random House.  These are far and away above consumer prices for e-books and much higher than the printed books cost either consumers or libraries.  You will some prices on the list are somewhat lower – at outrageous levels instead of ridiculous levels, but still more than consumers pay for either e-books or printed books.

There is simply no reason for these disparities.  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.

The publishers will also tell you that they and the American Library Association don’t want this bill passed because the groups are engaging in “talks” to resolve the situation.

Let’s look at another chart, from March, 2013, also compiled by Douglas County.  You will find good news and bad news.  The asterisks on the chart show publishers that didn’t as of that time make their e-books available to libraries.  So the good news between a year ago and now is that libraries have access to more books.  The bad news is that those e-books that are now available are at inflated prices, costing your libraries more money as they work to satisfy the demands of their customers.

Both the publishers and the American Library Association publicly oppose this bill to protect the integrity of their “talks.”  I will tell you, however, that if you talk privately with your local library officials, they will tell you they are duty bound to agree publicly with their national association, but don’t agree with it.  And if those “talks” don’t result in any relief, they will be back here next year.

I understand that this legislation and the companion bill be resolved as a summer study.  If that is to be so, I urge this committee to make sure the study explicitly considers the impact on libraries that e-book prices have in terms of the libraries’ overall purchases for materials and of their purchases of e-books.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Here's the March 2014 report I mentioned:
 
 
Here's the March 2013 report for comparison.





Tuesday, March 4, 2014

March E-Book Pricing Report

The Douglas County Libraries system is out with their latest monthly report comparing pricing of e-books and print books for consumers and for libraries.  This one is for prices as of March 3, 2014.

It's fairly evident that there's lots of progress to be made.  In the top New York Times fiction list, six of the top 15 books are $75 or more for library e-books.  Of those, only 13 are available to libraries.

Leading the way again is the Goldfinch, $90 as an e-book for libraries, $7.50 for consumers.  That's quite a disparity.


Wednesday, February 26, 2014

County Council testimony

This is what I told the Council last night about the Wheaton project for a library and recreation center.  I also submitted some photos of the Wheaton Youth Center which clearly show that the building is in severe disrepair and is barely adequate for what it does now.


Testimony of Art Brodsky
Before the Montgomery County Council
Feb. 25, 2014

President Rice, Vice President Leventhal, members of the Council:

My message to you tonight is very simple. The Wheaton community needs, wants and deserves a new library and recreation center. These should be built at the soonest possible time, at the lowest possible cost.

Throughout the process that has brought us here tonight, many people suggested compromises to the Planning Board as it considered what to do about the Wheaton Youth Center, which has become the biggest barrier to this project.

We pointed out that the Center did not meet many of the criteria the Board uses to designate structures as historic, that the building was in poor shape, that it would be prohibitively expensive to maintain and to upgrade and that it doesn't meet the needs of the growing and thriving community around it.

We suggested memorializing the Youth Center. The Asian-inspired curves could be incorporated into the design. The arch on Georgia Avenue, now rotting, could be rebuilt. An exhibit in the new building could help people share the history of the old structure, much as the exhibit does at the shopping center at Georgia Ave. and Colesville Road.

All of those ideas were summarily rejected.

This evening, I ask you to deal in reality. Not nostalgia. Not abstract academic interest. Reality.

The reality is that in two hearings before the Planning Board, there was a clear divide among those testifying. On one hand, there were those who saw the Youth Center building through a nostalgia-tinted lens, or as an abstract academic exercise, citing honors given 50 years ago when the structure was new and useful.

On the other, there were those, mainly from the community, with first-hand experience with the building, who see it as undersized, badly in need of repair, and, for all of its past glories, not sufficient to serve a growing and thriving community in Wheaton.

So here is the question for those on the Planning Board and the historic preservation community: How could you let such a “modernist, award-winning structure” fall into such a disreputable state? 
 
Where have you been for the past 30 years, or 20 years, or 10 years? What makes you think any nonprofit would want to be housed in there, much less pay for repairs?

When I testified before the board, I showed photos of the rotting arch out front, of plastic bags stuffed in doors as insulation, and of rooms too small to be of use. Others testified that the roof leaks, the carpeting is moldy, the gym floor isn’t level and some kitchen appliances don’t work. The lighting is dim and the rooms, supposedly in Japanese style, are too small.

According to the Planning Board, none of that mattered in their decision to render the structure historic. The condition of the building is irrelevant. That it fails to meet most of the criteria for designation is irrelevant — it need only meet one.
I'm sure the Youth Center of yesteryear provided fine memories to many people. But today, it should not stand in the way of a new library for Wheaton and should not disrupt the plans for the rec center.

Even if musical history was made there, and it's dubious, remember the Beatles played Shea Stadium, and the place was still torn down.


Tuesday, February 25, 2014

February report on e-book pricing for libraries


Every month, the Douglas County library system in Colorado surveys prices for e-books and printed books, for consumers and for libraries.  Here is the latest report.  To see if more clearly, click on the image and it will come up in its own window.



Saturday, February 1, 2014

What I told the General Assembly About E-book pricing


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.