22
votes
Digital books are costing local libraries a ton
Link information
This data is scraped automatically and may be incorrect.
- Title
- Digital reading soars in Seattle, creating problems for local libraries
- Authors
- Clare McGrane, Paige Browning
- Published
- Apr 23 2024
- Word count
- 1121 words
I've been seeing a lot of "If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing" recently, and frankly, it resonates. I've hit the point with books where if I want to read it, I download it off Library Genesis. If I find I'm reading a lot of an author (say, a long series, or multiple different works), I'll order a copy of their next book, or in one case sent money to an author's Kickstarter. The author cut for non-self published books is pathetically small anyway.
I find that I'm reading much more books this way, and I'm much more likely to bother to pick up a series. Funny enough I'm pretty sure I've generated a few book purchases by other people via recommendations. The alternative (say, if Library Genesis disappeared) would probably be me just reading more fanfiction online and almost no actual novels, rather than me actually purchasing ebooks.
Perhaps I would be more inclined to purchase ebooks if purchased ebooks weren't such a nuisance. If I purchase an ebook, I can't sell it, lend it to someone else to read. I likely have to deal with DRM that insists I only read it on certain devices, there have been cases where books have been removed from people's devices, and need to keep my device logged in to whatever service. Meanwhile, if I download something from Library Genesis, I search the title, hit download, and can put it on anything with an EPUB reader, I don't need a login to access it, can send a copy to someone else via email or WhatsApp... It's honestly a better experience after the first 30 seconds.
Preservation is typically also part of the purpose of a library: when a book is out of print, libraries may rebind them if they're damaged and try to maximize longevity. On a distributed level, this keeps books available that you can no longer purchase. Books that are rare and considered important may be taken out of circulation and only read on premise.
The scummy situation with ebooks eliminates that and actively causes the opposite. If a book expires after a set number of uses, and is no longer available in the future, it's a knowledge black hole. It's stealing from the future.