Know This: Equal Information Access
Depends on Equal E-Books Access
January 20, 2010
In our series on e-books, we presented a number of issues associated with the development and distribution of digital documents, especially works traditionally published as print books. Most of these issues stem from the technology (hardware and software) required for a consumer to access and read e-books on a regular, low-cost basis.
Our country’s public library system is based on the premise that everyone should be granted access to information. Yet, as the e-books revolution continues to evolve, public libraries stand to miss out on what could be an ideal opportunity to make their collections even more accessible to and widely used by their patrons. While many public libraries in large or mid-sized cities and surrounding communities have already established digital lending libraries, the promise of such access for members of poor communities across the country remains evasive.
When Sony unveiled its newest e-reader, the Daily Edition, last year at the New York Public Library, much was said of the device’s unique ability to download e-books quickly and easily from all sorts of libraries including those that are public or on-line. While the Sony Daily Edition sports wireless functionality like that of the Amazon Kindle e-reader, it is not limited by the Amazon proprietary platform; e-books in libraries are available in formats that are compatible with library patrons’ personal computers and Macs—and now Sony readers—but are not available in the Amazon Kindle format.
While most advocates of equal access to the information provided by public libraries lauded this development, many also asked how such access would be granted to library patrons who can’t afford to buy a $400 Sony Daily Edition e-reader and also have no or very limited access to a web-enabled smartphone or computer. Although many public libraries now offer on-site Internet access, such access is often limited by slow Internet connections and time limitations that usually average 30 minutes per session. Having to rush through digital content on a public-access computer while under a time limit hardly compares to reading a borrowed library e-book on one’s own computer or e-reader in the privacy of one’s own home.
According to the American Library Association, public libraries are established, in part, to ensure that “no one should be denied information because he or she cannot afford the cost of a book or periodical” or the cost of accessing “the internet or information in any of its various formats.” Libraries that offer e-books to their patrons offer special access that ought to be afforded to all library patrons regardless of location, health or mobility status, or income level. Most e-books now borrowed from public libraries are formatted with special software that limits the length of time during which they may be read. Once the time period (usually two weeks or so) ends, the book is no longer available for the user to access. No need exists to travel to a public library when borrowing or returning e-books. Surely such benefits would be greatly appreciated by library patrons for whom such trips are very difficult if not impossible.
When such benefits are measured against the cost of providing all library patrons easy access to information, it makes sense to get the necessary hardware into the hands of the library patrons most in need of such assistance. The Sony Daily Edition seems to be an ideal product to lend to such public library patrons. In addition to its more accessible format/software that already allows downloads of library e-books, the Daily Edition reader also sports a large reading window, the ability to increase text size quickly and easily, and intuitive touch-screen page turning most library patrons would find familiar and pleasant to use. (If the Apple tablet computer that’s slated to be revealed later this month and sold later this year offers the same open format and easy accessibility to library e-books, it would also make a terrific tool for library patrons to have on hand. The potentially significant higher price tag may make the Sony Daily Edition seem a much more affordable option for libraries, however.)
Most public libraries are charged one price per one copy of an e-book that they can lend out many times with no property loss or damage. While concerns about the reader lending idea have been raised due to potential loss or damage, quick development of newer and better e-readers creates a steady stream of readers that have been gently used and can be recycled into public library programs. And while the potential exists for making the lending and tracking of e-readers cumbersome for librarians—many of whom prefer to be proprietors of content, not hardware—if such a lending program would enhance the librarian’s ultimate charge to provide unencumbered access to as much information and knowledge as possible, surely such a lending program would be worth any extra effort.
Of course budget cuts continue to force public libraries to limit their programs and reduce the rate at which they’d like to increase the size of their overall collections. Yet when more publishers agree to make more e-books affordable to public libraries (ideally by offering terrific deals on subscription services so waiting lists for library books can become a thing of the past), growing e-book collections promise to take up much less shelf space and last much longer than print library books ever have. Wouldn’t it make sense to invest e-books savings into new lending tools for all the people our public libraries are supposed to serve?
Freedom of expression is a right guaranteed to Americans by our Constitution. True freedom of expression cannot exist when free and equal access to information and knowledge does not.
—Sherry Seiber
** Curious about your library district’s e-book collection? Simply enter your zip code here.
** On-line libraries include Project Gutenberg and the University of Pennsylvania OnlineBooks site.
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