The HarperCollins Library ebook Controversy

My stance on the HarperCollins policy is that I disagree with the policy. Based on everything I have read and also what I have heard from our campus teacher-librarian, I do not agree with this policy based on the following information I found.

First, the fact that the book basically vanishes after 26 check-outs makes no sense at all. Physical books do not vanish after 26 checkouts, and ebooks should not either! Just because it is digital and can be controlled from the vendor once purchased should not allow that vendor to delete it for use after 26 checkouts (Woodworth, n.d.). Furthermore, the extra cost that will be accrued by the libraries will have an impact on their already limited budgets. Sustainability will become an issue for libraries as they have to continue to renew ebook license each year, limiting the amount of new ebooks they might be able to purchase (Vaccaro, 2014).

Second, HarperCollins argument that they are protecting the authors (Open Lettter to Librarians, 211) is nonsense to me! They try to make the same argument as the music industry made about the artist losing money because of piracy. However, with the libraries, there is no piracy involved! The libraries have purchased the ebooks in the same manner they have purchase books for those in the community or school to check out over time.

Third, with ebooks, some can be checked out to multiple users at one time. This would move the 26 checkouts to less than a year. The same book may have to be purchased again within the same physical year. I visited with my campus librarian about this. She informed me that there are other subscriptions available that will allow for unlimited checkouts. When ordering ebooks, she steers more toward the unlimited subscriptions than the yearly or 26 checkout subscriptions. In addition, students like to check out ebooks because they can download them and then access them from any device without having to carry an extra book (Lee, 2013).

References

Lee, E. (2013). E-Books And Cost Pressures Push College Students Away From Textbooks. CNBC. Retrieved March 6, 2016, from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/24/death-of-the-textbook-and-the-50-pound-bookbag.html

Open Letter to Librarians. (2011, March 1). Retrieved March 4, 2016, from http://harperlibrary.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/03/open-letter-to-librarians.html

Vaccaro, A. (2014, June 27). Why It's Difficult for Your Library to Lend Ebooks. Retrieved from boston.com: http://www.boston.com/business/technology/2014/06/27/why-difficult-for-your-library-stock-ebooks/rrl464TPxDaYmDnJewOmzH/story.html

Woodworth, A. (n.d.). Tell HarperCollins: Limited Checkouts on eBooks is Wrong for Libraries. Retrieved March 4, 2016, from https://www.change.org/p/tell-harpercollins-limited-checkouts-on-ebooks-is-wrong-for-libraries