E-books, e-audio and public libraries: is it lift off or steady as she goes?

Transcription

1 E-books, e-audio and public libraries: is it lift off or steady as she goes? Bob Pymm, School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Australia Sarah Steed and Matthew Burless, Libraries ACT, Australia

2 Growth in the e-book market In US Jan million e-books sold; Jan 2012, 99.5 million In UK 366% increase for same period In Australia 72% with sales at $35 million Print book sales fall in UK (to 2003 levels) and by 9% in the US BUT Conflicting figures and huge success of POD.

3 Christmas 2011 For the first time over half of the top 50 bestsellers in the US were e-books 1.33 million e-readers sold in the UK during December 2011 Huge growth in YA and childrens Enhanced Harry Potter e-books sold directly (Pottermore); bypass publishers

4 Who is reading e-books? In the UK as at March 2012, overall 30% of males, 25% of females have read a digital book.

5 Who is reading e-books? In the US, 23% of adults had read an e- book in % owned a tablet device or e-reader 67% reported reading a print book (down from 72% in 2011)

6 For publishers Amazon claim (2011) e-book sales outstrip print sales and well above paperbacks Barnes and Noble (Christmas 2011) e- book sales three times those of print Overall, the publishing majors reporting e- formats 15-20% of total sales (2011) Huge predominance of English language e-books; sales tiny outside Anglo world

7 Take up by libraries Trials since late 1990s Small scale until 2006 on Focus on users downloading to their own devices (readers and mp3 players) with a minority loaning hardware Take up of e-audio was faster than e-books

8 In libraries today Library Journal survey (2011): 82% of US public libraries now offer e-books Collections grown by 185% over the previous year Circulation more than doubled on % of librarians thought e-book availability brought new borrowers into the system 95% expected circulation to increase in 2012.

9 Australian public library system Canberra (Australia s capital) Population c 360, ,000 registered with public library system 2.9 million borrowings (2011) High per capita income 80%+ broadband penetration

10 E-formats in Libraries ACT Introduced in 2006 (using Overdrive software) 1750 titles split 50/50 books and audio Users had to use their own PC, reader or player No real promotion

11 Circulation

12 Borrowers

13 Annual acquisitions of e-formats

14 Discussion Numbers are very small compared to print collection and traditional borrowing 2011 saw e-books overtake e-audio for the first time Limited Australian titles available some publishers (eg. Penguin, Macmillan) pulled their e-pubs out of the library market

15 Discussion (cont.) Collection still small which limits borrowing potential Restrictions eg. cannot download to Kindle in Australia And restrictive circulation module once a title is checked out it is unavailable to others for two or three weeks.

16 Top e-book titles Similar to print materials 2011 no. 1 is Bill Bryson (same in print) and one of only two non-fiction titles in the top 50. A large preponderance of romance titles, plus a few classics (eg. The Hobbit)

17 Top e-audio titles A broader mix than e-books Bill Bryson still no. 1 A complete mix romance, crime modern classics and traditional classics. Still more fiction

18 Closing thoughts Commercial e-book market led by Kindle but unable to be used in Australian libraries If this is resolved (as in the US) expect a spurt in uptake Budgeting an issue small numbers but is it a Catch 22...a bigger collection would equal greater borrowing?

19 Closing thoughts (cont.) Libraries ACT focus on content not hardware a good one and means more money for collection building Appeal seems to be wide-ranging though need for more research here Steady growth fuelled by word of mouth seems appropriate approach but potential for e-book reading groups etc

20 Closing thoughts (cont.) Potential to engage local community collect their stories literally the possibility of a selfpublishing option (works for Amazon) Continued role for e-audio In conclusion it will be a slow evolution, not revolution, but it is growing and libraries do need to be part of that growth and juggle their budgets accordingly.