Simon & Schuster Demands Libraries Start Selling eBooks
Part of the new deal with Overdrive is to make libraries offer a Buy it Now button on their online websites. When patrons visit the online portal to see what digital titles are available there will be a button next to S&S titles to instantly purchase the book. Digital titles are very much akin to their tangible counterparts, where popular titles often have long wait times. S&S and Overdrive are betting on people not wanting to wait and make a purchase.
S&S mandated that the only way they would participate in contributing their titles to libraries in the US, was that if 3M, Overdrive and Baker & Taylor developed systems that would give people a buying decision. This is in effect blackmailing libraries to either start acting as an online bookstore or you won’t be able to get a wide array of tittles.
Michael Sauers is the Director of Logan Library in Logan, UT. Prior to this he was one of the founding staff and Technology Manager for Do Space in Omaha, NE. After earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany's School of Information Science and Policy Michael spent his first 20 years as a librarian training other librarians in technology along with time as a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, a technology consultant, and a bookseller. He has written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and has published 14 books ranging from library technology, blogging, Web design, and an index to a popular horror magazine. In his spare time, he blogs at TravelinLibrarian.info, runs The Collector's Guide to Dean Koontz website at CollectingKoontz.com, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
Unless otherwise stated, all opinions are my own and are not to be considered those of the City of Logan, UT.
View all posts by Michael Sauers
Part of the new deal with Overdrive is to make libraries offer a Buy it Now button on their online websites. When patrons visit the online portal to see what digital titles are available there will be a button next to S&S titles to instantly purchase the book. Digital titles are very much akin to their tangible counterparts, where popular titles often have long wait times. S&S and Overdrive are betting on people not wanting to wait and make a purchase.
