futuramb's crumbs

As demand for e-books soars, libraries struggle to stock their virtual shelves - The Washington Post

Publishers are also struggling to cope with vast changes in the industry, as brick-and-mortar stores such as Borders go under and online vendors such as Amazon have started selling e-books for far less than the print editions.

“It is a fluid and dynamic time, and many publishers are reevaluating their business model as it relates to retail and libraries,” said David Burleigh, a spokesman for OverDrive Inc., which serves as an intermediary between publishers and libraries.

In the short term, libraries may not be able to meet customer demand for e-books, he said.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the major enemies threatening the future of the library are the publishers:

When the technology driven competition step by step is hitting the publishers and reducing their revenues, the publishers will pass on those losses to the only ones who the lowest bargaining power - the libraries.

When the publishers then is forced to reinnovate their business models as well as their offerings in order to secure their revenues - the libraries will most likely to be seen as a hurdle on their path to the customers who they will try to reach with a broader, more sophisticated and more interactive offerings around stories and worlds rather than just the sale of physical books.

Source: Washington Post