ebook Summit Wednesday 24 th September 2014

UK book sales market 2013 The invoiced value of all UK book sales was £3.389m in Digital sales accounted for only 15% of this but the annual trend is rising. Digital formats (encompassing both ebooks and online subscriptions) accounted for 20% of the total invoiced value of sales of academic/professional books in The Science, Technical & Medical (STM) sector saw a 1% increase in digital sales. Between 2009 and 2013, the value of digital sales increased from 6% to 17% in STM. Source: The PA Statistics Yearbook 2013

STM book sales (£m)

In summary Digital is increasing, print is not. All sectors show an upward trend in digital sales, including ebooks, but there is evidence of a slowing down of the increase. ebooks are here to stay.

ebook lending in public libraries Between 70 and 80% of public libraries in the UK offer ebooks…but availability of titles is an issue. OverDrive is the most popular digital supplier (aggregator) serving about half of the public libraries in the UK. It offers a central catalogue of around one million books, audio books and videos. Source: (accessed 20/9/2014)

ebook lending in public libraries OverDrive operates two models: One person, one book at a time. Simultaneous use for unlimited readers over a set period. OverDrive ebooks are in EPUB format which doesn’t work on Kindles. They can, however, be downloaded to mobiles and tablets using OverDrive apps. Source: (accessed 20/9/2014)

Publishers and ebook lending Major publishers like Random House, Bloomsbury and HarperCollins do allow public libraries access to their full ebook offering. Several don’t: Penguin withdrew its agreement with OverDrive in The HarperCollins model allows the book to be ‘loaned’ 26 times before it has to be paid for again.

Publishers’ concerns Publishers worry about the potential risk that libraries will simply buy one e-book which will be loaned to multiple readers, in multiple locations, and in multiple numbers. Therefore they worry that uncurbed, a reader with a library card need never buy a book again. ‘Friction’ v. ease of access Remote lending v. library visits Source: (accessed 20/9/2014)

The Sieghart Report (March 2013) William Sieghart was commissioned to conduct ‘An Independent Review of e-lending in Public Libraries in England’ and reported in March Recommendations:- ebooks should be free They should be available to access remotely One reader, one book at a time ebooks should ‘deteriorate’ thus forcing repurchase Source: DCMS ‘An Independent Review of e-lending in Public Libraries in England’ by William Sieghart

An alternative model (Publishers Association 2010) Payment for the service is made on the basis of the population size and is on a sliding scale depending on the number of potential users (i.e. those who live within the area and are eligible to hold library cards). Publishers decide the size of catalogue available. The service operates through a remote viewing platform, where content is held securely on the cloud and is viewed but not downloaded. Users can log on to the platform using any device with an internet connection. Source: The PA ‘E-book lending in public libraries’

ebook lending in public libraries Some anecdotal information from Stirling Council Libraries:- 5,228 visits last year and looking at an increase this year. Most borrowed: fiction 77%; biography 6%. Ebooks are being actively promoted to schools, resulting in an increase of around 6% of children's books. Most people borrow between 3.00pm and 11.00pm with the peak at 10.00pm.

Ebook purchasing models in higher education Libraries are buying more ebooks, often along with the print edition (bundling). Outright purchase, individually or as a bundle. In theory this means indefinite access. Subscription: access is granted for a specific period. Credits: Ebooks are purchased with a number of credits and each use (download or online) deducts a set amount of these credits. Once the credits run down to zero the library has to purchase another copy (Dawsonera). Short-term rental (similar to interlibrary loan) Source: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. Ebook Acquisition and Lending Briefing, July 2013

ebooks in higher education The Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) Annual Library Statistics, : UK university libraries offered access to more than 21 million ebooks More than 17 million ebooks were purchased 1,089 e-book databases were purchased Expenditure on ebooks was £12.7m In general libraries spend significantly more on online resources and subscription services like databases than print and ebooks. Source: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. Ebook Acquisition and Lending Briefing, July 2013

ebooks in higher education Ebrary global ebook survey, 2011, key findings Ebook usage is on a par with print books, with almost equal numbers of students using each type. 72% of students would use ebooks if there were more titles in their subject area. 60% of students would use ebooks if there were less restrictions on printing & copying. 85% of students want to download to a PC. Source: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. Ebook Acquisition and Lending Briefing, July 2013

Ebooks. And...? ‘Given the very nature of the digital marketplace and the medium, it is not just ebooks that the market consumes. Opportunities exist not only in creating ebook collections, bookshelves and the like, but in delivering learning content in a far more interactive and dynamic manner.’ Source: The PA Statistics Yearbook 2013

ebook Summit Wednesday 24 th September 2014