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Libraries Asserting Ebook Independence from Overdrive?

Peter Brantley at PWxyz reports that Califa, a library cooperative servicing much of California, has announced that it will create and host its own ebook library lending platform instead of using an existing one such as Overdrive, which is the platform used by most libraries. The idea is to purchase the titles directly, when that’s possible, instead of using the “cloud based” platform Overdrive currently uses (Correction: Commenter Jeff Allen notes that Overdrive does NOT use a “cloud based” model- see below). They aren’t expecting to be able to acquire frontlist titles from mainstream publishers, and instead will focus on small and independent presses. That’s kind of cool for those kinds of presses! According to Brantley, though, most independent and small publishers depend on a distributor to package ebooks, and it doesn’t benefit distributors to sell ebooks directly to libraries.

I neither publish, distribute, or purchase ebooks for libraries. I do think it would be great for libraries to have independence from Overdrive, and for independent publishers to get a shot at getting their titles into libraries. So I’m interested to know what you think about this? Is it feasible? Are Brantley’s concerns warranted? Or is this an idea whose time has really come?

Posted on March 28, 2012 by , 2 comments

Fifty Shades of Shame

I haven’t read Fifty Shades of Grey, but I am outraged by the media’s assumption that women are reading it on ereaders because they’re ashamed for the world to know what they’re reading. While it’s true that most of the copies sold have been ebooks, some of that is probably because print copies have been scarce. I can’t speak for all women, of course, but the last time I checked the catalog in the Indianapolis library system, there were 77 holds.  That’s 77 people, probably mostly women, who are okay with marching up to the circulation desk to check it out- 77 people who aren’t ashamed to read a physical copy with a cover that other people might see, even though Dr. Drew announced his disapproval, the media has anointed it “mommy porn”, and many reviewers have not been kind (Jesse Kornbluth at the Huffington Post called it “a sad joke”). The point is, it’s turning a lot of people on to books. Those people are not hiding their taste in reading, they’re celebrating it. Good for them. It’s fine to keep your taste in reading private, of course. But no one should be made to feel that they need to justify or defend it.  Why do I read genre fiction on my ereader? It’s not because I’m worried that someone might see I’m reading a book without the Oprah seal of approval. It’s because I read so damn much of it that if I bought physical copies of everything I read I’d be buried in them, and sometimes I’m too impatient to wait for the library.

Whatever you read, be it Fifty Shades of Grey, gory zombie novels, steampunk with parasols, witty Regency romance, or all of the above… here, we stand by your right to read what you want, the way you want to, regardless of what anyone else says, does, or thinks.

 

 

Posted on March 28, 2012 by , Reply

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro Guest Post: Writing on the Walls

Among her other accomplishments, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro is the author of the Count St. Germain series of vampire novels, which begins with Hotel Transylvania, a nominee for HWA Vampire Novel of the Century. The 25th (and newest) book in the series,Commedia della Morte, will be released this month. Chelsea has shared her insights into libraries and the research process in the past, and today, as part of the blog tour for Commedia della Morte, she’s got something to say about the the importance of literacy, in all its incarnations. Thank you, Chelsea, and good luck!

 

In Praise of the Written Word


When researching Blood Games many years ago, I found myself reading a fascinating book on graffiti throughout the Roman Empire; there was a lot of it. Most of it was fairly typical: Good fortune to Pulcheria, who has the greatest tits in the Lupanar; Marcus Flavius is a cheating pig; Greens forever; Arnax will beat Sepulins on Saturday’s Games; special at Antonius’ trattoria today and similar kinds of comments; a few were more pointed and political, but all of them provided significant insight into the attitudes and behavior of a large portion of the people of Rome. The examples in the book were an engaging collection, and more so because they were familiar — modern graffiti are much the same. Yet there are vast stretches of history that seem to be graffiti-less, and what little exists is pictures, not words. Which first and foremost tells you that in those times, most people could not read or write: graffiti is proof of a level of literacy that is not often encountered in many historical eras, or a great number of cultures. The Romans were unusual in that they encouraged reading and writing in almost all classes of society, and along with it, kept public records and documenting all manner of transactions, which makes researching their history and culture far easier than, say, researching everyday life in Moscow in the fifteenth century, or in the Amazon basin in 1920. Archaeologists discover ancient and often unknown cultures that remain largely a mystery due to the absence to some form of written language, starting with the presence or absence of graffiti.

Social continuity is contained in many aspects of the society, but the one that bestows the greatest continuity is written language, which allows the understanding of one generation to be built upon by subsequent ones, thereby retaining a reliable line between past and future, and keeping a link from the present to the future. If you want to put this to the test, read some of the theories about Egyptian hieroglyphics that were embraced before the Rosetta Stone was found and decoded, and then look at what we learned about that vanished civilization afterward. And yes, it was vanished in spite of some of the most spectacular monuments ever built, walls and walls of graffiti and bas-relief carvings, paintings in tombs, and papyrus scrolls. The written word revealed the ancient Egyptians to us as no pyramid or temple ever could, and it is through the written word that we have learned what all those tremendous artifacts were all about.

Of course, language changes over time, words mutate, new words come into use, old ones fade away, but where there is writing and reading, the culture remains coherent. As wonderful and revealing as folklore is, it does not offer the level of documentation written accounts do. Where literacy is rare, folklore flourishes, adapting over time to changing conditions among those who do not read or write, and although folklore provides context and sagas of all sorts, it does not allow the development of society through cumulative thought, be that thought academic, commercial, legal, entertaining, pragmatic, or aligned to any other endeavor.

When literacy is restricted, learning is compromised. When reading and writing are limited to one sector of society, information becomes the tool of that sector. Writing and reading provide opportunities for moving beyond the “what is” to the next step, and that next step emerges when thought is made lucid through writing and accessibility to others who read and write. So welcome graffiti: it means that language is active and that most of the society can read and write, can think for themselves, and know how to question what they see around them, and can pass all those things and many, many others on to those who come after us, as well as enriching our own lives.

Posted on March 23, 2012 by , Reply
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