off or steady as she goes? Bob Pymm, School of Information Studies, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES

E-books, e-audio and public libraries: is it lift

• ff or steady as she goes?

Bob Pymm, School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Australia Sarah Steed and Matthew Burless, Libraries ACT, Australia

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Growth in the e-book market

• In US – Jan 2011 66million 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.

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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

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Who is reading e-books?

• In the UK as at March 2012, overall 30% of

males, 25% of females have read a digital book.

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Who is reading e-books?

• In the US, 23% of adults had read an e-

book in 2012

• 33% owned a tablet device or e-reader
• 67% reported reading a print book (down

from 72% in 2011)

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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

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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

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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 2010
• 76% of librarians thought e-book availability brought

new borrowers into the system

• 95% expected circulation to increase in 2012.

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Australian public library system

• Canberra (Australia’s capital)
• Population c 360,000
• 200,000 registered with public library system
• 2.9 million borrowings (2011)
• High per capita income
• 80%+ broadband penetration

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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

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Circulation 2006-2011

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Borrowers

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Annual acquisitions of e-formats

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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

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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

• thers for two or three weeks.

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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)

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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

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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?

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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

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Closing thoughts (cont.)

• Potential to engage local community – collect

their stories literally – the possibility of a self- publishing 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.