Bix dot Blog

Let’s talk about what’s going to happen in the library. Large systems with a single copy of a popular new release are going to have some explaining to do as their holds queues, which many libraries try to keep to single digits per item, stretch into years before they’re allowed to purchase additional copies of the title. Libraries will have to choose, as the Upper Arlington Public Library has tried to do, between explaining the arcane system of per-publisher ebook purchasing to their patrons, or just quietly accepting that they can’t serve their users' needs. Some users may purchase a new release out of frustration with hold queues, but many, especially those without the means to buy their own books, will go without. Will patrons connect this inconvenience with the publisher, the author, or the library?

—Jessamyn West, in “Raw Deal in Ebook Pricing”