Library eBook Projects: Contacts at Library eBook Projects

If you're a publisher, and you want to work with libraries individually, here is a list of contacts at the various libraries that have "owned" platforms or are purchasing directly with publishers, even if they don't own their platform.

Califa/Contra Costa County's Enki
Heather Teysko
http://www.califa.org/enkiproject
hteysko@califa.org

Harris County TX
Michael Saperstein
Multimedia Selection Librarian
http://www.hcpl.net/content/introducing-hcpl-eselect-our-exclusive-new-ebook-collection
msaperst@hcpl.net

What the What?

In case you didn't know, ebooks are a big deal in libraries right now. A lot of publishers won't sell to library consortia (which is how many libraries are able to afford to buy ebooks), others limit circulations of an ebook, and raise their prices.

In addition, the way that the ebooks are accessed, the platform, is something that, in most cases, the library doesn't have any ownership over. Plus, with many vendors from whom libraries buy ebooks, if they stop paying their platform fees, they lose the content they bought for it.

Libraries pay huge platform fees, and then pay huge markup pricing for bestseller titles, which they will lose the rights to if they stop paying the platform fees.

To a lot of us (me included) this seems crazy. Many groups are experimenting to try to change the model, or look at alternatives. Working directly with publishers, negotiating statewide contracts, etc.

This is the place to keep up with the different projects, and see what experimental projects are happening.

Library eBook Projects

Contacts at Library eBook Projects

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