Publisher–Librarian Dialog | Editorial

While the American Library Association (ALA) appoints task forces on ebooks that get mired in bureaucracy, the real worlds of book publishing and libraries move ahead rapidly, both struggling with budgets, changing mission, even survival. The demise of Borders, signaling the end of an era, and the explosion of ebook reading and devices, marking the onset of another, have huge implications for publishers and for libraries. Many publishers already facing declining print sales now will be taking multi-million-dollar hits as Borders fails to pay arrears.

Why should librarians care at all about Borders or about publishers' woes? It's not about the superstore per se, or about publishers' losses. It's about the diminution of the book world, of outlets that trumpet literacy and reading. Those are things that librarians value. Libraries may be trying to dissociate themselves from the book brand, but for much of the public there is still that visceral connection between books and libraries, whether those books are print or ebooks.

As Borders disappears and Barnes & Noble uses its front-of-store display space to sell the Nook, there is more reason than ever for publishers to seek out libraries, to ally with them in support of books and reading, despite their disparate needs—and wants—regarding ebook models. Jeffrey Trachtenberg points out in the Wall Street Journal (7/20/11) that bookstores "are needed to generate excitement even though the transaction may be digital.” His comment could refer to libraries as well. For publishers in need of spaces where readers or customers can find out about books and where books can be marketed to readers via displays, book groups, physical or virtual author appearances, book programs, reading guides, in-person and Facebook readers' advisory ("hand-selling” in bookstores), there is no better community place than the library.

In an interview in LJ's BookSmack!, Random House's Madeline McIntosh discusses the importance of both " ‘big picture' marketing...that might help lift [a] category as a whole” and " ‘front-burner' marketing” for a first novel. (On August 18, librarian Katie Dunneback interviews Harper­Collins's Josh Marwell, part of a series leading up to the LJ/SLJ virtual summit October 12, EBooks: The New Normal.) In both areas, the library role is critical. Besides children's and YA titles, where libraries buy the bulk of publishers' first printing, libraries can represent 60 percent or more of the buy for first novels, hardcover mysteries, and sf. For nonfiction like cookbooks, memoir, and biography, library sales are higher than libraries' ten to 12 percent market share, says Marcia Purcell, head of library marketing at Random House.

Publishers need libraries to thrive—and libraries need publishers to serve their users. That's why several of ALA's sessions that made news in New Orleans in June, like "The Future Is Now! Ebooks and Their...Impact...,” and the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy ebook task force's meeting with HarperCollins execs were so disappointing. (LJ's Heather McCormack reported on both.) According to McCormack and others, several librarian presenters/participants seemed clueless about issues in publishing, about business models, and even about technology. Their comments did little to further the dialog between publishers and librarians on ebooks.

Understandably, librarians aren't all on the same page when it comes to ebooks, nor are publishers. Some librarians clamor that they have money to spend, but there is not enough product. Some buy HarperCollins's titles despite the 26-loan cap; others do not. Some say they're willing to spend more money for models that enable simultaneous use. Among the Big Six trade publishers, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan remain holdouts in "selling” ebooks to libraries, and Hachette has backed out. Those that do "sell” ebooks to libraries want to know the impact of library loans on consumer sales. In the print world, they've come to understand that borrowers are also purchasers. (For those who doubt, LJ hopes to back that up with hard data from our ­Patron Profiles research; www.patronprofiles.com.)

These are complex issues. Behind the scenes at ALA (and off the record), some publishers met separately with the executive leadership of ALA and the Urban Libraries Council to address them. Publishers and librarians need to listen to each other, hear each other, to understand better the concerns on both sides, to the benefit of both—and, ultimately, to the benefit of readers.