<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

SOUS LA DIRECTION DE
HANS DILLAERTS
BENOÎT EPRON

# L'offre de livres numériques à destination des bibliothèques de lecture publique : un regard international

Séminaire, Enssib, 2014-2015

Cette collection a pour ambition de donner à lire des résultats de la recherche, des réflexions professionnelles, dans le domaine du livre, de son histoire et de son économie, de la lecture et de ses usages, et des bibliothèques. Cette collection est ouverte aux professionnels, aux chercheurs et aux élèves et étudiants de l'Enssib. Gratuitement, La Numérique est proposée exclusivement en ligne.

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /></figure>

2016
# L'offre de livres numériques à destination des bibliothèques de lecture publique : un regard international

Hans Dillaerts et Benoît Epron (dir.)

DOI: 10.4000/books.pressesenssib.1567

Éditeur : Presses de l'enssib

Lieu d'édition : Villeurbanne

Année d'édition : 2016

Date de mise en ligne : 4 avril 2017

Collection : La Numérique

ISBN numérique : 978-2-37546-054-2

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /></figure>

OpenEdition
Books

https://books.openedition.org

Édition imprimée

## RÉFÉRENCE NUMÉRIQUE

Dillaerts, Hans, et Benoît Epron, éditeurs. *L'offre de livres numériques à destination des bibliothèques de lecture publique : un regard international*. Presses de l'enssib, 2016, https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pressesenssib.1567.

Ce document a été généré automatiquement le 5 mai 2024.

Le format PDF est diffusé sous Licence OpenEdition Books sauf mention contraire.

Le format ePub est diffusé sous Licence OpenEdition Books sauf mention contraire.

## RÉSUMÉ

Cette publication trouve son origine dans le séminaire « L'offre de livres numériques à destination des bibliothèques de lecture publique : un regard international » qui a été organisé entre mai 2014 et mars 2015 par l'Enssib (Hans Dillaerts et Benoît Epron), l'ARALD (Antoine Fauchié) et les laboratoires DICEN-CNAM (Ghislaine Chartron) et ELICO (Lyon) ; il a bénéficié du soutien de l'ARC 5 et de la Région Rhône-Alpes.

Le séminaire ayant reçu de nombreux retours positifs de la part des professionnels de la chaîne du livre et des chercheurs travaillant sur le livre numérique, les organisateurs ont souhaité rassembler les textes afin de capitaliser sur les retours d'expériences et les savoirs construits.
L'ouvrage s'attache ainsi à analyser et identifier les différents modèles qui sont mis en œuvre pour développer des services de prêt public du livre numérique. Une approche de comparaison internationale est privilégiée pour appréhender l'ensemble des enjeux liés au développement du prêt numérique et de la lecture numérique sous l'angle technico-économique, politique, juridique, professionnel et des usages.

Les contributions correspondent aux interventions et aux transcriptions réalisées à l'issue des séances du séminaire, ainsi qu'à des articles extérieurs afin d'enrichir l'analyse.

## NOTE DE L'ÉDITEUR

Cet ouvrage a été réalisé avec Métopes (méthodes et outils pour l'édition structurée XML-TEI), chaîne éditoriale développée par le pôle Document numérique de la Maison de la recherche en sciences humaines de l'université de Caen Normandie.

Cet ouvrage a fait l'objet d'une expérimentation d'évaluation ouverte par les pairs post-publication via l'outil Hypothes.is. Cette expérience s'est déroulée d'octobre 2018 à juin 2019, dans le cadre du projet européen HIRMEOS. Pour plus d'informations sur le projet : https://www.openedition.org/22530.

Retrouvez les archives des annotations émises dans ce cadre sur cet ouvrage ici : https://hypothes.is/groups/a4XMWakd/opr-presses-de-l-enssib

## HANS DILLAERTS (DIR.)

Maître de conférences en sciences de l'information et de la communication, responsable de la licence pro Dispositifs de gestion et de diffusion de l'information numérique, département Information Documentation - ITIC, chercheur associé au laboratoire du LERASS-CERIC, Montpellier Paul-Valéry.

## BENOÎT EPRON (DIR.)

Maître de conférences en sciences de l'information et de la communication, responsable du master Publication numérique, École nationale supérieure des sciences de l'information et des bibliothèques (Enssib)
<figure><img src="image_4.png" /></figure>

SOUS LA DIRECTION DE
HANS DILLAERTS
BENOÎT EPRON

# L'offre de livres numériques à destination des bibliothèques de lecture publique : un regard international

Séminaire, Enssib, 2014-2015

Cette collection a pour ambition de donner à lire des résultats de la recherche, des réflexions professionnelles, dans le domaine du livre, de son histoire et de son économie, de la lecture et de ses usages, et des bibliothèques. Cette collection est ouverte aux professionnels, aux chercheurs et aux élèves et étudiants de l'Enssib. Gratuitement, La Numérique est proposée exclusivement en ligne.

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /></figure>

2016
## L'ouvrage

Cette publication trouve son origine dans le séminaire « L'offre de livres numériques à destination des bibliothèques de lecture publique : un regard international » qui a été organisé entre mai 2014 et mars 2015 par l'Enssib (Hans Dillaerts et Benoît Epron), l'ARALD (Antoine Fauchié) et les laboratoires DICEN-CNAM (Ghislaine Chartron) et ELICO (Lyon); il a bénéficié du soutien de l'ARC 5 et de la Région Rhône-Alpes.

Le séminaire ayant reçu de nombreux retours positifs de la part des professionnels de la chaîne du livre et des chercheurs travaillant sur le livre numérique, les organisateurs ont souhaité rassembler les textes afin de capitaliser sur les retours d'expériences et les savoirs construits. L'ouvrage s'attache ainsi à analyser et identifier les différents modèles qui sont mis en œuvre pour développer des services de prêt public du livre numérique. Une approche de comparaison internationale est privilégiée pour appréhender l'ensemble des enjeux liés au développement du prêt numérique et de la lecture numérique sous l'angle technico-économique, politique, juridique, professionnel et des usages.

Les contributions correspondent aux interventions et aux transcriptions réalisées à l'issue des séances du séminaire, ainsi qu'à des articles extérieurs afin d'enrichir l'analyse.

## Les auteurs

**Jean-François Cusson** ► Directeur général de BIBLIO-PRESTO.CA, Montréal

**Hans Dillaerts** ► Maître de conférences en sciences de l'information et de la communication, responsable de la licence pro Dispositifs de gestion et de diffusion de l'information numérique, département Information Documentation - ITIC, chercheur associé au laboratoire du LERASS-CERIC, Montpellier Paul-Valéry
**Benoît Epron** ► Maître de conférences en sciences de l'information et de la communication, responsable du master Publication numérique, École nationale supérieure des sciences de l'information et des bibliothèques (Enssib)

**Mélanie Le Torrec** ► Conservateur des bibliothèques chargée des Coopérations territoriales, bibliothèque municipale de Lyon

**Dan Mount** ► Senior Associate, Strategy & Policy at Ofcom

**Rafael Peregrina** ► Assistant HES à la Haute école de gestion de Genève

**Sue Polanka** ► Associate University Librarian for Public Services, Head of Reference & Instruction, Wright State University Libraries (USA)

**Stéphanie Pouchot** ► Professeure en sciences de l'information à la Haute école de gestion de Genève, coordinatrice des enseignements du master en information documentaire

**Sébastien Respingue-Perrin** ► Directeur adjoint de la bibliothèque de l'université d'Évry-Val-d'Essonne, membre du Bureau de Couperin, responsable de la Cellule e-books et membre du segment 7 de la Bibliothèque scientifique numérique (« Édition publique »)

**Aurélie Vieux** ► Adjointe scientifique (cheffe de projet), université de Genève

**Thomas Wilson** ► Professor Emeritus of the University of Sheffield, Senior Professor at the Swedish School of Library and Information Science, University of Borås
## Notice

L'offre de livres numériques à destination des bibliothèques de lecture publique : un regard international (séminaire Enssib mai 2014-mars 2015)

sous la direction de Hans Dillaerts et Benoît Epron.

Villeurbanne : Presses de l'enssib, cop. 2016.

1 vol. (253 p.). – (La Numérique ; ISSN 2492-9735)

ISBN pdf 978-2-37546-006-1. Gratuit

ISBN ePub 978-2-37546-007-8. Gratuit

Dewey : 025.07 ou 027.4

### Rameau :

Bibliothèques publiques -- Grande-Bretagne

Bibliothèques publiques -- Suède

Bibliothèques publiques -- Suisse

Bibliothèques publiques -- Québec

Livres numériques

Bibliothèques -- Politique publique

Bibliothèques -- Services aux publics

Société numérique

Notice rédigée par la bibliothèque
de l'Enssib, 2016.
# Sommaire

<table><tr><td><strong>Préface</strong></td><td><strong>8</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>1. La situation au Québec</strong><br><em>par Jean-François Cusson</em></td><td><strong>12</strong></td></tr><tr><td>Mise en contexte</td><td>12</td></tr><tr><td>Démarrage de BIBLIOPRESTO.CA</td><td>17</td></tr><tr><td>PRETNUMERIQUE.CA:<br>un aperçu de la plateforme</td><td>23</td></tr><tr><td>PRETNUMERIQUE.CA: principaux résultats</td><td>31</td></tr><tr><td>PRETNUMERIQUE.CA: perspectives</td><td>33</td></tr><tr><td>En guise de conclusion</td><td>36</td></tr><tr><td><strong>2. Si proche, si loin:</strong><br><strong>la situation en Suisse romande</strong><br><em>par Stéphanie Pouchot,<br>Aurélie Vieux, Rafael Peregrina</em></td><td><strong>37</strong></td></tr><tr><td>Contexte général</td><td>38</td></tr><tr><td>Cadre juridique: contrat privé vs LDA</td><td>40</td></tr><tr><td>L'offre de livres numériques en Suisse romande</td><td>43</td></tr><tr><td>La situation aujourd'hui pour les bibliothèques<br>suisses</td><td>47</td></tr><tr><td>Un écosystème en cours de stabilisation</td><td>53</td></tr><tr><td><strong>3. E-book lending in U.S. public libraries</strong><br><em>by Sue Polanka</em></td><td><strong>55</strong></td></tr><tr><td>Some industry statistics</td><td>56</td></tr><tr><td>U.S. Public library Statistics</td><td>58</td></tr><tr><td>Distributors and the Big Six</td><td>69</td></tr><tr><td>Total Boox</td><td>77</td></tr><tr><td>Advocacy Initiatives</td><td>87</td></tr><tr><td>Challenges for libraries</td><td>99</td></tr><tr><td>New Strategies</td><td>112</td></tr><tr><td>Discussion</td><td>121</td></tr><tr><td><strong>4. Investigating the impact<br>of the e-book in Sweden</strong><br><em>by Thomas Wilson</em></td><td><strong>127</strong></td></tr><tr><td>Discussion</td><td>145</td></tr><tr><td>Afterword</td><td>155</td></tr></table>
5. La situation juridique
et économique du livre électronique
et sa présence en collectivité en France
157

par Sébastien Respingue-Perrin

Contexte du marché français 160

De la loi qui soutient à la loi qui obscurcit? 173

L'offre aux bibliothèques
à la croisée des chemins 184

Conclusion: la France est-elle
le pays de l'impossible « livre libre »? 197

6. United Kingdom, England
– Arts Council e-lending pilot projects
201

by Dan Mount

History and overview of e-lending model 201

Commercial context 202

Policy context 204

Cultural context 205

Scope and audience of e-lending model 205

Collection characteristics 205

Financial characteristics 208

Friction strategies 208

Technical specifications 208

User experience 208

7. United Kingdom, Wales
– e-books for Wales
210

by Dan Mount

History and overview of e-lending model 210

Commercial context 211

Policy context 211

Cultural context 212

Scope and audience of e-lending model 212

Collection characteristics 212

Financial characteristics 213

Friction strategies 213

Technical specifications 213

User experience 214
**8. Netherlands – Dutch Digital Library** 215
by Dan Mount

<table><tr><td>History and overview of e-lending model</td><td>215</td></tr><tr><td>Commercial context</td><td>216</td></tr><tr><td>Policy context</td><td>220</td></tr><tr><td>Cultural context</td><td>222</td></tr><tr><td>Scope and audience of e-lending model</td><td>222</td></tr><tr><td>Collection characteristics</td><td>223</td></tr><tr><td>Financial characteristics</td><td>224</td></tr><tr><td>Friction strategies</td><td>224</td></tr><tr><td>Technical specifications</td><td>224</td></tr><tr><td>User experience</td><td>225</td></tr></table>

**9. L'usage peut-il être le moteur de la politique documentaire du livre numérique en bibliothèque ?** 227
par Mélanie Le Torrec

<table><tr><td>Questionner la légitimité des statistiques comme moteur de la politique documentaire</td><td>229</td></tr><tr><td>Cette distinction claire entre données statistiques d'utilisation et usage doit être au cœur de toute analyse sur la lecture numérique</td><td>232</td></tr><tr><td>L'enquête de publics comme outils d'appréhension de la lecture numérique et des lecteurs</td><td>234</td></tr><tr><td>L'usager peut-il être le partenaire de l'acquéreur?</td><td>238</td></tr><tr><td>Le PDA, une appréhension nouvelle des collections et des publics</td><td>241</td></tr><tr><td>Un programme de PDA à l'échelle d'un consortium de bibliothèques universitaires:</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Orbis Cascade Alliance</td><td>243</td></tr><tr><td>Quels enseignements?</td><td>249</td></tr><tr><td>Conclusion</td><td>250</td></tr><tr><td>Autres sources à consulter</td><td>252</td></tr></table>
# Préface

par Hans Dillaerts et Benoît Epron

Les bibliothèques de lecture publique jouent aujourd'hui un rôle important à plusieurs niveaux par rapport au livre numérique.

Au premier niveau, les réseaux de bibliothèques de lecture publique constituent un marché non négligeable pour les éditeurs. Dans le cadre du déploiement d'une offre de livres numériques en bibliothèque, se pose naturellement la question d'une substitution éventuelle entre les différents supports (papier ou numérique) pour un même contenu. L'hypothèse vraisemblable d'une non-cannibalisation stricte entre les différents supports induit une évolution du marché potentiel que représentent les bibliothèques.

À un deuxième niveau, les bibliothèques sont impliquées dans la diffusion de ce nouveau support de lecture. Leur position prescriptrice auprès d'une communauté les amène à se placer comme un relais important dans l'appropriation du livre numérique.

Enfin, à un dernier niveau, les bibliothèques s'inscrivent dans des politiques publiques d'apprentissage et de diffusion de contenus culturels ou éducatifs. À ce titre, elles doivent être en mesure de proposer un ensemble de ressources éditoriales pertinent. Ces ressources – qu'elles soient d'ailleurs issues du secteur marchand ou non – sont potentiellement disponibles sous forme numérique et voient leur intégration dans les catalogues des bibliothèques représenter un réel enjeu. Sur ce point, il est nécessaire de se poser également la question de la sociologie des publics visés par les bibliothèques et donc de la place des populations les plus jeunes et traditionnellement proches des technologies numériques. C'est avec cette contrainte du positionnement légitime des bibliothèques comme équipement culturel public que
la place du livre numérique en bibliothèque de lecture publique
doit être discutée.

Qu'est-ce qu'un dispositif de prêt de livres numériques? Quels
modèles? Quels modèles d'acquisition? Quel dialogue entre édi-
teurs et bibliothèques? Quels modèles économiques? Quelles
compétences et missions pour les professionnels de la documen-
tation et des bibliothèques? Quels rôles pour les bibliothèques?

Cet ouvrage trouve son origine dans le séminaire « L'offre de livres numériques à destination des bibliothèques de lecture publique : un regard international » qui a été organisé entre mai 2014 et mars 2015 par l'Enssib (Hans Dillaerts et Benoît Epron), l'Arald (Antoine Fauchié) et les laboratoires DICEM-CNAM (Ghislaine Chartron) et ELICO. Ce séminaire a bénéficié du soutien de l'ARC5 et de la région Rhône-Alpes.

Le séminaire ayant reçu de nombreux retours positifs de la part
des professionnels de la chaîne du livre et des chercheurs tra-
vaillant sur le livre numérique, nous avons voulu rassembler cer-
taines conférences afin de capitaliser sur les retours d'expériences
et les savoirs construits. Nous souhaitons ainsi donner quelques
pistes de réflexion sur ces problématiques fondamentales.

Cet ouvrage s'adresse à la fois aux chercheurs intéressés par les
questions liées au prêt public du livre numérique et aux acteurs
de la documentation et des bibliothèques qui sont confrontés à
ces enjeux à travers leurs pratiques professionnelles. La plupart
des chapitres de cet ouvrage correspondent à des articles ou à
des transcriptions réalisées à l'issue des séances du séminaire.
Nous avons également intégré quelques contributions extérieures
afin de proposer au lecteur un état de l'art représentatif des dif-
férents modèles de prêt qui existent à travers le monde.

L'ouvrage s'attache ainsi à analyser et identifier les différents
modèles qui sont mis en œuvre pour développer des services
de prêt public du livre numérique. Une approche de comparai-
son internationale est privilégiée pour appréhender l'ensemble
des enjeux liés au développement du prêt numérique et de la
lecture numérique sous l'angle technico-économique, politique,
juridique, professionnel et des usages.

Cet ouvrage met ainsi en exergue à la fois la situation actuelle et les perspectives des dispositifs de prêt numérique en France (Sébastien Respingue-Perrin) et d'autres pays: le Québec (Jean-François Cusson), les États-Unis (Sue Polanka), la Suisse (Stéphanie Pouchot, Aurélie Vieux et Rafael Peregrina), la Suède (Thomas Wilson). En nous appuyant sur le rapport "A review of public library e-lending models", qui est diffusé sous licence Creative Commons (CC BY-SA), nous avons intégré également les chapitres consacrés au pays de Galles, à l'Angleterre et aux Pays-Bas (Dan Mount). Une réflexion sur la place des usages dans les politiques documentaires en matière de livres numériques (Mélanie Le Torrec) clôt cette étude.

L'objectif de cet ouvrage est d'étudier l'ensemble de ces modèles à
travers cinq questions saillantes qui représentent autant d'enjeux
autour du livre numérique en bibliothèque de lecture publique.

1. Le premier enjeu est celui de l'articulation entre l'offre éditoriale commerciale et celle des bibliothèques. Pour le livre papier, les différents acteurs ont défini un ensemble de modèles économiques et législatifs qui autorise un équilibre entre les deux marchés. Quels modèles peut-on imaginer aujourd'hui pour le livre numérique afin de maintenir cet équilibre ? De fait, il s'agit là d'une question centrale, car le passage au numérique du livre induit une disparition ou au moins une réinvention de sa matérialité.

2. Le deuxième enjeu réside dans les modalités d'acquisition des livres numériques en bibliothèque. Dans un marché du livre numérique, quelle place occupent les librairies dans
les marchés d'acquisition des bibliothèques? Ce marché des bibliothèques n'est pas négligeable pour la filière de la librairie, et la situation que l'on peut observer sur le marché des revues scientifiques en bibliothèque universitaire montre clairement un risque de ré-intermédiation.

3. Les modèles de financement des acquisitions de livres numériques représentent également un enjeu. Le fléchage des budgets d'acquisition des bibliothèques vers les livres numériques conditionne une structuration du marché dif-férente d'un arbitrage réalisé par les acquéreurs en bibliothèque. Dans les deux cas, les leviers des États et des éditeurs ne sont pas les mêmes.

4. Le livre numérique en bibliothèque pose la question des compétences professionnelles des bibliothécaires sur deux plans: les compétences relatives à la dimension technique de l'offre, aux formats et aux supports de lecture d'une part, et celles relatives à la définition d'une politique d'acquisition, en présence de bouquets ou de modèles Patron-Driven Acquisition (PDA), d'autre part.

5. Plus largement, la question du rôle des bibliothèques comme acteur politique et culturel se pose au travers de la médiation de collections de livres numériques et face à l'émergence d'offres commerciales d'accès à des corpus de ressources moyennant le paiement d'un abonnement forfaitaire.

6.
# 1. La situation au Québec<fnref n="1" />

par Jean-François Cusson

## Mise en contexte

Le projet de plateforme de prêt de livres numériques pour les bibliothèques publiques québécoises a démarré peu après le deuxième Congrès des milieux documentaires, tenu en novembre 2010. Conscientes du rôle qu'elles jouent dans l'équilibre de la chaîne du livre au Québec et avec la volonté de respecter l'esprit de la Loi sur le développement des entreprises québécoises dans le domaine du livre (aussi connue comme la Loi 51²), les bibliothèques publiques ont rapidement exprimé le besoin d'une interface unique entre l'ensemble des bibliothèques, des libraires et des éditeurs de livres numériques qui favoriserait le maintien et la stabilité de ce milieu en pleine mutation.

L'Association des bibliothèques publiques du Québec (ABPQ)<fnref n="3" />, le réseau BIBLIO du Québec<fnref n="4" /> et Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) se sont donc associés pour mettre en commun leur expertise, évaluer les besoins du milieu et faire cheminer le projet.

<footnote n="1">1. Texte issu de la conférence prononcée le 27 juin 2014 à l'Enssib (Lyon). À noter: les données présentées ont été actualisées en janvier 2015.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">2. Loi sur le développement des entreprises québécoises dans le domaine du livre, chapitre D-8.1.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">3. L'ABPQ regroupe la très grande majorité des bibliothèques dites autonomes, c'est-à-dire desservant des municipalités de plus de 5 000 habitants.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">4. Les réseaux BIBLIO, au nombre de 11, sont des organisations régionales qui desservent les municipalités de moins de 5 000 habitants.</footnote>
Développement de la plateforme PRETNUMERIQUE.CA

Lorsque les bibliothèques québécoises envisagèrent de se doter d'une plateforme pour gérer des collections numériques et diffuser celles-ci auprès de leurs usagers, elles se tournèrent tout naturellement vers la compagnie De Marque, établie dans la ville de Québec. Le choix de De Marque s'est imposé rapidement, étant donné l'expertise acquise par l'entreprise dans la distribution et la diffusion du livre numérique, notamment avec le développement de l'Entrepôt du livre numérique en collaboration avec l'Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (l'ANEL).

En partenariat avec De Marque, un comité de bibliothécaires, issus de plusieurs bibliothèques publiques québécoises, a été mis sur pied afin de déterminer les besoins et les priorités devant mener à la création d'une plateforme permettant le prêt de livres numériques en bibliothèque. Cette plateforme a ainsi été conçue de façon à respecter les principes suivants :

○ Rendre accessible le service à toutes les bibliothèques publiques québécoises, peu importe leur budget ou leur expertise technique.

○ Respecter l'esprit de la Loi sur le développement des entreprises québécoises dans le domaine du livre (Loi 51). Bien que le livre numérique ne soit pas assujetti à la Loi 51, il a été convenu qu'il était à l'avantage de tous les acteurs de respecter l'esprit de cette loi.

○ Simplifier l'implantation pour éliminer le plus de barrières technologiques.

○ Éviter la multiplication des plateformes. Afin d'offrir un contenu diversifié, certaines bibliothèques doivent utiliser plusieurs plateformes, ce qui multiplie les coûts et complique la vie de l'usager. PRETNUMERIQUE.CA est conçue
comme une plateforme qui peut accueillir des contenus
de tous les distributeurs et éditeurs, et à laquelle tous les
libraires peuvent se brancher.

◎ Favoriser la diffusion du livre numérique québécois et francophone. En 2011, le marché du livre numérique québécois était encore à ses débuts. La plateforme devait aider à faire rayonner cette nouvelle offre. Toutefois, la plate-forme fut aussi conçue pour pouvoir offrir du contenu étranger (européen, canadien, américain, etc.).

◎ Permettre l'intégration fine dans les catalogues des bibliothèques. La plateforme Web de PRETNUMERIQUE.CA est pensée comme un outil, et non comme une fin. À terme, les fonctions de prêt, de réservation et de dossier d'usage pourront être complètement intégrées dans les catalogues en ligne et les systèmes intégrés de gestion de bibliothèque (SIGB) à travers des branchements par *application programming interface* (API).

La grande particularité du projet PRETNUMERIQUE.CA réside
sans aucun doute dans la collaboration entre un nombre impor-
tant de représentants d'institutions publiques (les bibliothécaires)
et une entreprise privée, dans une optique de partenariat. En
effet, le cœur de l'entente entre De Marque et les bibliothèques
s'est construit autour d'un échange d'expertise : les bibliothèques
ont pu établir leurs besoins, décrire les fonctionnalités néces-
saires, et suivre le projet selon un processus itératif, au fur et à
mesure de son avancement. Ainsi, bien qu'il ait été construit à
partir d'exigences assez précises énoncées par les bibliothèques,
le projet PRETNUMERIQUE.CA n'a pas fait l'objet d'un complexe
processus de rédaction de cahier des charges et d'appel d'offres.
Au contraire, il a été conçu dès le départ pour évoluer en fonction
d'usages et de besoins appelés à émerger progressivement, en suiv-
vant l'adoption du système par les bibliothèques et leurs usagers.
La technologie développée dans le cadre du projet appartient à De Marque, qui la commercialise désormais, au Canada comme en Europe, sous le nom Cantook Station. Plusieurs bibliothèques européennes et canadiennes ont d'ailleurs commencé à déployer la technologie Cantook Station et à offrir le service de prêt numérique à leurs usagers, notamment Grenoble (France), Edmonton (Canada), ainsi que la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (Belgique).

## Entente avec le milieu du livre

En parallèle de ces travaux de conception et d'idéation, des discussions ont été menées avec l'ensemble des partenaires de la chaîne du livre afin de définir les paramètres et modalités destinés à encadrer l'achat et le prêt de livres numériques. Ces discussions ont eu lieu, en bonne partie, en marge des travaux de la Table de concertation interprofessionnelle du livre, pilotée à l'époque par la Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC). Au terme de ces échanges, un système de lettres d'entente a été mis en place afin de permettre le démarrage d'un projet pilote, dont le terme fut fixé au 31 décembre 2012 :

* Lettre Éditeur – Entrepôt numérique.

* Lettre Entrepôt numérique – Libraire.

* Lettre Libraire – Bibliothèque.

Plusieurs principes ont été établis et définis dans ces lettres d'entente, notamment un plafond de 100 prêts par licence acquise, l'achat de livres numériques au prix fixé par l'éditeur pour la vente grand public, ainsi que la notion d'exemplaire et l'impossibilité pour une bibliothèque de prêter un même exemplaire à plus d'un usager, simultanément.

Pour en savoir plus sur le processus ayant mené à la définition du modèle entourant PRETNUMERIQUE.CA, on lira avec intérêt un billet rédigé par Clément Laberge, vice-président principal de
De Marque, et publié en décembre 2011, au moment du démar-
age de la phase pilote du projet.

Lancement du projet pilote

Dès l'automne 2011, un groupe de six bibliothèques publiques se lance dans l'aventure : les réseaux des bibliothèques des villes de Montréal et de Québec, les réseaux BIBLIO de la Montérégie et du Centre du Québec, de Lanaudière et de la Mauricie, la bibliothèque de la ville de Brossard ainsi que BAnQ. C'est cette dernière qui ouvre le bal, en décembre 2011, suivie rapidement, en début d'année 2012, par les cinq autres. L'ABPQ assume alors un mandat provisoire de gestion du projet, et en partage la coordination avec un comité de gestion formé de représentants des organisations impliquées dans le pilote.

Au printemps 2012, le projet est présenté à l'ensemble des bibliothèques publiques québécoises lors d'une journée d'information tenue à la Grande Bibliothèque, à Montréal. Madame Suzanne Payette, présidente de l'ABPQ, et monsieur Clément Laberge, alors vice-président de De Marque, expliquent le fonctionnement de la plateforme de même que les résultats préliminaires du projet pilote. Les bibliothèques publiques québécoises furent alors invitées à manifester leur intérêt pour intégrer la plateforme et, le cas échéant, à entamer les procédures d'abonnement et d'implantation.

À la fin de la première année (2012), 23 bibliothèques ou réseaux
de bibliothèques avaient joint le projet et intégré la plateforme.
Ces bibliothèques desservaient environ 3,5 millions d'habitants,
soit environ 43 % de la population québécoise.
Démarrage de BIBLIOPRESTO.CA

À l'été 2012, BIBLIOPRESTO.CA fut officiellement incorporé en
tant qu'organisme à but non lucratif avec pour principal mandat
d'administrer et de développer la plateforme PRETNUMERIQUE.
CA. Le projet de mettre sur pied un tel organisme a émergé des
travaux du comité de gestion provisoire, en marge des premières
expériences du projet pilote: l'idée d'avoir une entité légalement
constituée, administrée par des représentants de bibliothèques
publiques et apte à signer des ententes avec différents parte-
naires s'est rapidement imposée, en particulier en raison de la
flexibilité que procurait une telle structure autonome.

Afin de permettre la mise sur pied et le démarrage de cet orga-
nisme, une demande d'aide financière fut déposée au minis-
tère de la Culture et des Communications par l'ABPQ. Le 6 sep-
tembre 2012, une aide financière non récurrente fut octroyée afin
de couvrir une partie des frais liés à la mise en œuvre du pro-
jet à l'ABPQ. Cette somme fut accordée en vertu du programme
Aide aux projets – Accueil. En mai 2013, l'ABPQ transférait à
BIBLIOPRESTO.CA la comptabilité du projet PRETNUMERIQUE.
CA, incluant le montant de la subvention, en s'assurant de la
bonne gestion de celle-ci.

Les objectifs poursuivis par cette demande d'aide financière
étaient les suivants :

◎ permettre la mise en place d'un consortium de gestion de
la plateforme de prêt de livres numériques;

◎ disposer des moyens nécessaires pour faire une promotion
adéquate de la plateforme;

* effectuer les ajustements techniques et technologiques nécessaires à la plateforme afin d'assurer un déploiement adéquat dans toutes les bibliothèques publiques du Québec.
Concrètement, l'aide financière demandée devait servir, en bonne partie, à l'embauche d'un coordonnateur qui aurait comme principaux mandats d'assurer les suivis du développement technologique requis, la création et le maintien de partenariats avec les entreprises du milieu du livre et la promotion de la plate-forme auprès des bibliothèques et du grand public. Les autres dépenses prévues avaient trait au développement technologique, au maintien et au support technique liés à la plateforme et à la promotion (relations publiques, placement publicitaire, création d'outils promotionnels, etc.).

## BIBLIOPRESTO.CA: mise sur pied de l'organisme

Le 17 juillet 2012, BIBLIOPRESTO.CA recevait ses lettres patentes et acquérait par la même occasion une existence légale. Afin de prendre les rênes de cette nouvelle organisation, le comité de gestion provisoire s'est mis en quête d'un chargé de projet, lequel fut engagé le 5 octobre 2012. L'une de ses premières tâches fut de préparer, en collaboration avec l'ABPQ, la tenue de l'Assemblée générale constitutive, le 31 octobre 2012, au Palais des congrès de Montréal, en marge du Congrès annuel des milieux documentaires.

À cette occasion, 8 administrateurs furent élus ou nommés en fonction des critères énoncés dans les règlements généraux de BIBLIOPRESTO.CA, adoptés lors de cette même assemblée, à savoir:

* 3 représentants des villes de moins de 100 000 habitants;

* 2 représentants des villes de 100 000 à 1 000 000 d'habitants;

* 1 représentant des villes de plus de 1 000 000 d'habitants;

* 1 représentant des réseaux BIBLIO régionaux;

* 1 représentant de BAnQ;

* 1 membre coopté par le conseil.
## Mission / vision

À la suite d'un exercice de planification stratégique, BIBLIOPRESTO. CA s'est doté d'une planification stratégique sur trois ans basée sur des éléments de mission et des valeurs clairement établies :

### Mission

BIBLIOPRESTO.CA développe des produits et services numériques appuyant la mission des bibliothèques.

### Vision

BIBLIOPRESTO.CA ouvre la voie au développement de la bibliothèque virtuelle d'avant-garde.

### Valeurs

* Accessibilité

* Adaptabilité

* Coopération

* Innovation

* Universalité

### Mandat / projet

Bien que le mandat de BIBLIOPRESTO.CA englobe toutes les activités de promotion et de développement des services en ligne en bibliothèque publique, il se décline principalement en trois volets :

1. Administrer, développer et faire la promotion de PRET-NUMERIQUE.CA, la plateforme de prêt de livres numériques lancée en 2011.

2. Reprendre les activités du Consortium d'acquisition de ressources électroniques du Québec (CAREQ), un groupe qui, depuis 2003, contribue à rendre accessibles des ressources
électroniques pour les usagers des bibliothèques publiques québécoises en négociant des licences collectives d'abonnement aux meilleurs tarifs et conditions possibles, notamment des accès à distance pour les citoyens. Plus de 200 bibliothèques et réseaux BIBLIO sont abonnés à l'une ou l'autre de la douzaine de ressources offertes, avec un potentiel de 5 millions d'utilisateurs<fnref n="5" />.

3. Établir un service de référence virtuelle coopérative pour toutes les bibliothèques publiques du Québec<fnref n="6" />.

Cependant, considérant l'objet de cette communication, nous ne nous attarderons pas sur les deux derniers projets et nous nous concentrerons essentiellement sur le livre numérique.

## Projet pilote

Comme il a été mentionné précédemment, le projet pilote fut un véritable succès. Rapidement, plusieurs bibliothèques, de toutes les tailles et de toutes les régions du Québec, se sont manifestées pour intégrer la plateforme et offrir le service à leurs usagers. Au terme de l'an 1, les bibliothèques publiques québécoises avaient prêté, à travers la plateforme PRETNUMERIQUE.CA, 120 000 livres, sur une collection globale de 33 000 livres.

## Renouvellement des ententes avec le milieu du livre québécois

Le système de lettres d'entente qui encadrait le projet pilote autour de PRETNUMERIQUE.CA prenait fin le 31 décembre 2012. Dès lors, il fallut se rasseoir à la table de négociations avec l'ensemble des partenaires impliqués pour convenir des conditions et modalités qui assureraient la continuation du projet (à noter, étant donné l'échéance du 31 décembre 2012, aucune nouvelle

<footnote n="5">5. Plus d'informations sur le mandat et les ressources actuellement accessibles sur BIBLIOPRESTO.CA.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">6. Le projet RÉPONSEATOUT.CA a été officiellement lancé à l'automne 2014.</footnote>
bibliothèque ne put être intégrée sur la plateforme jusqu'au
moment où une nouvelle entente put entrer en vigueur).

Dès le départ, il fut convenu que bibliothèques et éditeurs négo-
cieraient en vis-à-vis. Un comité de négociations fut donc mis sur
pied, auquel participèrent BAnQ, les réseaux BIBLIO, l'ABPQ et
BIBLIOPRESTO.CA. Les membres de ce comité rencontrèrent, à plu-
sieurs reprises, les éditeurs, représentés par un comité de l'ANEL.

Au terme de ces rencontres, il fut établi que le projet continue-
rait sous de nouvelles conditions, la principale nouveauté étant
un plafond de prêt passant de 100 à 55 prêts. BIBLIOPRESTO.CA
obtint en retour la capacité de conserver une copie de sécurité de
tous les titres acquis afin de se prémunir du retrait ou de la dis-
partition de ceux-ci de leurs entrepôts respectifs.

Principales conditions du modèle de licence utilisée
par les bibliothèques québécoises

○ 1 licence acquise = 1 exemplaire;

○ 55 emprunts possibles par exemplaire;

○ prêts successifs seulement (pas de possibilité d'emprunts simultanés sur un même exemplaire);

○ achat aux prix grand public, fixés par l'éditeur;

○ la bibliothèque détermine la période d'emprunt;

○ la bibliothèque peut se prévaloir d'une copie de sécurité advenant le défaut d'un éditeur ou d'un distributeur.

La rédaction d'une nouvelle entente fut coordonnée par la SODEC,
avec la participation active de l'ANEL et de BIBLIOPRESTO.CA.
Suite à d'importantes recherches juridiques et le conseil de spé-
cialistes des lois en matière de droit d'auteur, on décida de créer
une société de gestion de droits collectifs, la SOGANEL, afin de
permettre que l'entente soit entérinée dans le respect du droit, et
notamment de la loi fédérale sur la concurrence.
Depuis lors, les éditeurs désirant rendre leurs titres numériques disponibles aux bibliothèques doivent signer un *mandat* pour se placer sous la licence SOGANEL<fnref n="7" /> alors que les bibliothèques participantes doivent signer un *avis d'acceptation* afin de signifier qu'elles souscrivent à l'ensemble des conditions incluses dans cette même licence. La nouvelle entente fut signée le 17 juillet 2013, par Jean-François Bouchard, président de l'ANEL, et Jean Payeur et Jean-François Cusson, respectivement président et directeur général de BIBLIOPRESTO.CA.

Fin 2013, 133 éditeurs, principalement québécois (quelques éditeurs francophones du reste du Canada participent aussi), avaient rendu disponibles un peu plus de 11 000 titres numériques pour l'achat et le prêt par une bibliothèque. En janvier 2015, Sogides (Groupe Livre Québecor Média), plus grand groupe d'édition québécois, rejoignit le projet au grand bonheur des bibliothèques et de leurs usagers. À partir de ce moment, la très grande majorité des titres numériques publiés au Québec devinrent accessibles aux bibliothèques québécoises.

## Ouverture de catalogues numériques d'éditeurs étrangers

Si l'un des objectifs premiers du projet était de permettre aux bibliothèques de rendre accessible à leurs usagers la production éditoriale québécoise, il était clair que cela n'en serait pas pour autant la limite. Ainsi, des discussions ont rapidement été entreprises avec différents distributeurs et éditeurs, afin d'élargir l'offre disponible.

Le premier résultat en ce sens vint du marché domestique: un contrat fut négocié et signé entre BIBLIOPRESTO.CA et Diffusion Dimedia, un distributeur québécois ayant les droits, entre autres, sur le catalogue numérique du groupe La Martinière.

<footnote n="7">7. Il est possible de consulter l'intégralité de la licence SOGANEL sur le site de l'ANEL.</footnote>
Cet accord, intervenu en novembre 2013, respectait en tout point les conditions déjà établies avec les éditeurs québécois, et décrites dans la licence SOGANEL. Les bibliothèques québécoises purent donc commencer à élargir l'horizon de leurs collections respectives, en choisissant parmi les quelques milliers de titres de La Martinière, du Seuil et d'une douzaine d'autres éditeurs français, diffusés par Dimedia.

Par la suite, BIBLIOPRESTO.CA engagea des négociations avec d'autres groupes. Un accord intervint avec le groupe Madrigall à l'automne 2014 (selon des conditions très similaires à SOGANEL) et rendit accessibles près de 7000 titres. De même, des discussions avec les représentants des éditeurs anglophones du Canada (réunis au sein de eBOUND Canada) ainsi qu'avec le libraire en ligne Feedbooks permirent d'offrir aux bibliothèques utilisant la plateforme PRETNUMERIQUE.CA des catalogues de plusieurs dizaines de milliers de titres numériques anglophones.

## PRETNUMERIQUE.CA : un aperçu de la plateforme

Au départ, la plateforme était plutôt limitée, tant en ce qui concerne les fonctionnalités que le design et l'ergonomie. Avec le temps et beaucoup d'effort, et grâce à une collaboration étroite avec l'équipe de développement de De Marque, nous avons réussi à proposer un produit performant, agréable à utiliser, adaptatif (en fonction de la taille de l'écran) et flexible.

Deux formats de fichiers sont actuellement supportés par PRET-NUMERIQUE.CA: le PDF et l'ePub (ePub et ePub2).

La majorité des bibliothèques utilisent maintenant une plate-forme publique, c'est-à-dire dont la collection est visible par tout un chacun, sur le Web, sans avoir besoin d'être d'abord identifié en tant qu'usager en règle (un processus de connexion est cependant nécessaire pour être en mesure de faire un emprunt ou une réservation).
Page d'accueil

La page d'accueil présente, par défaut, une sélection aléatoire des dernières nouveautés acquises par la bibliothèque ainsi qu'un palmarès des livres les plus populaires dans les 100 derniers jours. Les bibliothèques peuvent y ajouter, à leur convection, des bandeaux à leurs couleurs ou des carrousels de sélections thématiques.

Affichage collection

En mode collection, l'usager peut fureter à travers l'ensemble des catégories et connaître rapidement la disponibilité d'un titre. Il peut aussi utiliser différents filtres qui lui permettront de circunsccrire sa recherche (recherche avancée, langue, disponibilité, format, etc.).

Seules les catégories pour lesquelles les bibliothèques pos-
sèdent des livres seront affichées. Les catégories ne sont pas
mutuellement exclusives: la biographie d'un politicien pourra,
par exemple, se retrouver à la fois en *Biographie*, mais aussi en
*Sciences humaines et sociales* et en *Affaires, économie et droit*.

Notice d'un livre

La notice d'un livre exploite les métadonnées déjà présentes
dans le fichier numérique du livre. Ainsi, on peut généralement
y consulter un résumé de l'ouvrage de même que, lorsque c'est
pertinent, une table des matières et une biographie de l'auteur.
On y trouvera en outre les informations bibliographiques comme
l'éditeur, l'auteur, la langue, le format (ePub ou PDF), l'ISBN, le
nombre de pages, etc.

On peut aussi, à même la notice d'un livre, en feuilleter un extrait
et ce, peu importe la disponibilité du titre.
<figure><img src="image_6.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 1 – Page d'accueil</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="image_7.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 2 – Affichage collection</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="image_8.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 3 – Notice d'un livre</figcaption></figure>

Source: PRETNUMERIQUE.CA.
## Dossier d'usager

Dans son dossier, l'usager peut voir ses emprunts actifs, les emprunts qu'il n'a pas encore activés, de même que l'état de ses réservations et leurs dates de disponibilité. Il peut aussi avoir un aperçu de son historique de lecture.

Pendant la période où un emprunt est actif (généralement 3 semaines), l'usager peut toujours retourner dans son dossier pour télécharger à nouveau le fichier de cet emprunt.

## Module d'aide et guides de démarrage

Des centaines d'heures de travail ont été consacrées à la rédaction et à la constitution de ces guides. Plus nous avancions dans le projet, et plus nous avons constaté l'importance fondamentale d'outiller les usagers et de leur offrir un maximum d'informations et de soutien afin de les rendre autonomes. Cette section est régulièrement enrichie avec de nouveaux guides sur des appareils récents, ou des éléments d'information sur des problématiques qui peuvent être rencontrées (incompatibilité, message d'erreur, etc.).
<figure><img src="image_9.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 4 – Dossier d’usager</figcaption></figure>

Source: PRETNUMERIQUE.CA.
<figure><img src="image_10.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 5 – Module d'aide</figcaption></figure>

Source: PRETNUMERIQUE.CA.

<figure><img src="image_11.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 6 – Guides de démarrage</figcaption></figure>

Source: PRETNUMERIQUE.CA.
PRETNUMERIQUE.CA: principaux résultats

En janvier 2015, trois ans après le lancement du projet, le paysage du livre numérique en bibliothèque québécoise a beaucoup évolué. En voici maintenant un portrait sommaire :

○ 105 bibliothèques ou réseaux de bibliothèques branchés à la plateforme;

○ 195 000 utilisateurs uniques;

○ 1500 000 emprunts;

○ 210 000 livres numériques (collection globale);

○ 31 000 titres disponibles, provenant de 400 éditeurs;

○ plus de 3 000 000 de visites sur la plateforme;

○ 20 % de taux de roulement des collections;

○ 65 % des emprunts sont des livres de fiction adultes, 25 % des documentaires adultes, et seulement 10 % des livres jeunesse;

○ 7 % de taux de conversion : d'après une étude publiée par Dosdoce.com, les bibliothèques québécoises présentent le plus haut taux de conversion (proportion du nombre total d'inscrits utilisant le prêt numérique) parmi les modèles étudiés – dont la New York Public Library;

○ un rapport publié en décembre 2014, par Dan Mount, du cabinet Civic Agenda, concluait que les bibliothèques québécoises paient, toutes proportions gardées, le moins cher par prêt numérique (coût d'achat initial divisé par 55 emprunts) parmi l'ensemble des modèles étudiés<fnref n="8" />.

<footnote n="8">8. Dan Mount, "A review of public library e-lending models", rapport publié par Civic Agenda pour le compte de Taalunie, Bibnet et Bibliotheek.nl.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_12.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 7 – BIBLIOPRESTO.CA a publié une infographie présentant les résultats 2014</figcaption></figure>

Source: PRETNUMERIQUE.CA.

À l'heure actuelle, la très grande majorité des bibliothèques publiques québécoises utilisent la plateforme PRETNUMERIQUE. CA. Le service a été ouvert aux bibliothèques collégiales au cou- rant de l'année 2015.

D'un point de vue budgétaire, certaines bibliothèques sont déjà à 20 % de leur budget d'achat en livres numériques, alors que plu- sieurs sont encore timidement à 1 ou 2 %. D'après les données récol- tées par BIBLIOPRESTO.CA, le ratio budget d'acquisition de livre papier vs livre numérique s'établit, en moyenne, à environ 5 %.

Finalement, il nous apparaît essentiel de dire un mot sur les efforts de formation et de soutien qui ont été déployés par les bibliothèques québécoises au cours des trois dernières années. Difficilement quantifiable, cette variable nous semble pourtant fondamentale pour bien comprendre les succès rencontrés par la plateforme PRETNUMERIQUE.CA: dès les tout débuts, les bibliothèques se sont investies dans la formation aux utilisateurs, en offrant des cliniques d'initiation, des séances de dépannage, des conférences, des ateliers. Ce faisant, les bibliothèques en sont venues à tenir un rôle laissé vacant par le reste de la chaîne du livre: former des lecteurs numériques.
## PRETNUMERIQUE.CA: prospectives

PRETNUMERIQUE.CA est maintenant un projet mature, connu des usagers et lecteurs, et solidement implanté dans les bibliothèques québécoises. Cela dit, nous avons toujours essayé de garder à l'esprit qu'il fallait accepter de voir l'écosystème et les usages numériques progresser et, en conséquence, accepter nous-mêmes de voir se transformer nos pratiques, nos outils et nos habitudes. L'univers du numérique en bibliothèque est nécessairement appelé à se redéfinir régulièrement que ce soit avec le développement de nouvelles technologies, mais aussi l'évolution des modèles économiques et des conditions d'accès.

Nous avons identifié quelques enjeux pour lesquels nous serons particulièrement attentifs dans les mois et années à venir:

### Livres augmentés et ePub3

À l'heure actuelle, les livres numériques diffusés à travers la plateforme PRETNUMERIQUE.CA sont essentiellement des versions homothétiques de livres publiés initialement en version papier. Le livre augmenté amènera, sans aucun doute, de nouveaux types d'usages, tant du point de vue de la diffusion que de la lecture.

### Verrous numériques

PRETNUMERIQUE.CA utilise présentement le système de verrous numériques d'Adobe (DRM; ACS4). Cette solution a été adoptée parce qu'il s'agissait, à l'époque, du standard industriel utilisé par la majorité des éditeurs. Ce verrou a évidemment le défaut d'être un système complètement fermé et très coûteux (dans le modèle québécois, ce sont les bibliothèques qui défraient les coûts liés aux DRM) et complexifie passablement le processus d'emprunt, en particulier pour les nouveaux utilisateurs.
BIBLIOPRESTO.CA suit depuis un certain temps déjà les travaux de la Fondation Readium, et espère pouvoir expérimenter rapidement le déploiement de la solution ouverte LCP, lorsque celle-ci deviendra opérationnelle.

## Streaming

Le téléchargement de fichiers a été la méthode de diffusion privilégiée par les bibliothèques québécoises depuis les premières discussions entourant le projet PRETNUMERIQUE.CA. L'utilisation importante de liseuses, de même que les usages de lecture dans des contextes où les connexions réseau étaient difficiles, voire impossibles, ont amené les bibliothèques à choisir cette approche. Cependant, avec le développement des technologies et l'arrivée prochaine d'une offre différente (qu'on pense par exemple au livre audio), il semble important d'évaluer l'intégration de modes de diffusion en continu (streaming).

## Autoédition

Le phénomène, on le sait, prend de l'ampleur. Comme l'autoédition se produit et se diffuse généralement en marge des plate-formes traditionnelles, il y a un risque que les bibliothèques ne puissent avoir accès à ces contenus. En conséquence, il apparaît essentiel de pouvoir développer la capacité technique d'accueillir une œuvre, quelle que soit sa provenance et en cas d'absence d'infrastructure industrielle pour la distribuer. De plus en plus, les bibliothèques deviendront elles-mêmes créatrices de contenus; il faut se donner les moyens de les diffuser.

## Découvrabilité, mise en valeur et médiation des collections

Certaines bibliothèques québécoises ont maintenant des collections numériques de quelques dizaines de milliers de titres. Comment mettre en valeur, et travailler de telles collections, dans
l'immatériel ? Comment outiller les bibliothèques afin qu'elles
puissent faire une médiation efficace des contenus numériques ?

Intégration du numérique
à l'espace physique de la bibliothèque

Le numérique est peu présent dans les espaces physiques. Trop souvent, les bibliothèques ne savent pas comment mettre en valeur leurs collections numériques, et ne disposent pas de dispositifs efficaces pour le faire. BIBLIOPRESTO.CA s'est ainsi associé à Espaces temps, un organisme dont la mission est de contribuer à la libre circulation des informations et des connaissances, pour le développement du projet Manivelle, un réseau d'affichage numérique interactif et ouvert.

Gestion des licences

Déjà, certains titres acquis par des bibliothèques ayant rallié la
plateforme dès le départ arrivent à la fin de leur vie utile, c'est-à-
dire qu'ils ont atteint la limite d'emprunt prévue dans les licences
négociées avec les éditeurs.

Ces cas d'épuisement des droits consentis ne sont pas encore
nombreux, mais ils augmenteront progressivement avec le temps,
amenant de nouveaux défis pour les bibliothèques dans la ges-
tion de leurs collections numériques. Jusqu'à maintenant, nous
n'avions que peu de données sur les usages numériques; nous
pourrons bientôt avoir une meilleure idée de la vie et du compor-
tement des collections de livres numériques.

Pérennité technique

Le système repose sur un modèle relativement stable et sur l'ex-
ploitation de fichiers aux formats standard, comme l'ePub et le
PDF. Mais qui sait quels formats seront au goût du jour dans
trois ou cinq ans ? Y aura-t-il rétrocompatibilité ? Est-ce que
nos usagers voudront, au-delà de l'enthousiasme initial, continuer à s'équiper et à remplacer leurs appareils, rapidement rendus désuets par l'avancement de la technologie ? Comment accéderons-nous, dans vingt ans, aux collections numériques patiemment acquises et mises en place aujourd'hui ?

## En guise de conclusion

La place du livre numérique dans les bibliothèques publiques québécoises a considérablement évolué dans les trois dernières années. Alors qu'en 2011, pratiquement aucune n'offrait ce service (et, qui plus est, un service de prêt numérique de livres francophones), il s'agit maintenant d'un acquis, pratiquement un service de base.

La force du modèle québécois réside, sans aucun doute, dans la concertation et la collaboration, que ce soit entre les bibliothèques elles-mêmes (la création de BIBLIOPRESTO.CA en est un bel exemple) ou avec l'ensemble du milieu du livre, comme en témoigne le lancement d'un projet comme PRETNUMERIQUE.CA. Plus qu'un service populaire ou un outil de diffusion efficace, il s'agit ni plus ni moins d'une réussite collective qui a permis aux bibliothèques de réaffirmer leur pertinence et de se positionner comme des acteurs incontournables dans un écosystème du livre en profonde mutation.
## 2. Si proche, si loin:
la situation en Suisse romande<fnref n="1" />

par Stéphanie Pouchot, Aurélie Vieux et Rafael Peregrina

Avec ses 8 millions d'habitants, la Suisse représente un bassin de population comparable à celui d'une grande région française, dont le nombre d'habitants se situerait entre ceux de la région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes et l'Île-de-France. Quatre langues nationales (allemand, français, italien et romanche) sont réparties selon quatre régions linguistiques relativement bien délimitées.

Riche de plus de 6000 services d'information documentaire (SID), la Confédération bénéficie d'une situation particulièrement favorable; selon Jean-Philippe Accart, la Suisse: « est un des pays au monde le mieux doté en matière d'infrastructures du savoir: bibliothèques, médiathèques, centres de documentation et d'archives couvrent le pays en un maillage dense, enrichi par la diversité linguistique. »<fnref n="2" />

Ce chapitre est consacré à la place de l'e-book dans cet environnement propice à la circulation du savoir et de la connaissance. La première partie pose le cadre général propre au paysage bibliothéconomique suisse. Nous abordons ensuite les aspects juridiques sous l'angle du droit d'auteur et de ses impacts sur le prêt numérique en bibliothèque. Ces bases étant posées, nous décrivons la situation en Suisse romande au travers d'exemples emblématiques avant de conclure sur les questionnements à envisager une fois l'offre numérique construite.

<footnote n="1">1. Texte issu de l'intervention du 6 novembre 2014 à l'Enssib (Lyon).</footnote>

<footnote n="2">2. Jean-Philippe Accart, «Les bibliothèques suisses en chiffres », *Bulletin des bibliothèques de France*, 2008, n° 3, p. 61.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_13.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 8 – Le paysage linguistique en Suisse</figcaption></figure>

Source: Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS), Recensement fédéral de la population, 2000.

Contexte général

Actrices majeures du monde de la culture, les bibliothèques assurent des missions et perçoivent des moyens financiers en fonction de leur statut. Au niveau politique, la gestion administrative des bibliothèques est définie par un cadre légal<fnref n="3" /> et hiérarchique relativement simple: les bibliothèques communales dépendent de la ville, les bibliothèques cantonales ainsi que les bibliothèques universitaires sont rattachées aux instances politiques du canton, notamment le service de la culture. Les

<footnote n="3">3. Les autorités fédérales de la Confédération suisse, Loi fédérale du 9 octobre 1992 sur le droit d'auteur (RS; 231.1), art. 24.</footnote>
bibliothèques fédérales sont, quant à elles, gérées directement par l'Office fédéral de la culture (OFC), lui-même rattaché au Département fédéral de l'intérieur (DFI).

Une particularité helvétique réside également dans le tissu très important de bibliothèques d'organisations internationales. Il ne faut pas non plus oublier les nombreuses bibliothèques de musées et autres institutions culturelles, ni les petites – voire très petites – structures comme certaines bibliothèques uniquement scolaires, les bibliothèques de quartier dédiées aux jeunes ou encore les bibliothèques de village.

Reflet des trois principales régions linguistiques, les bibliothèques sont organisées en réseaux: l'Informationsverbund Deutschschweiz (IDS) pour la Suisse alémanique (environ 350 bibliothèques membres), le Réseau des bibliothèques de Suisse occidentale (RERO) pour la Romandie (environ 220 bibliothèques), et le Sistema bibliotecario ticinese (SBT) pour la zone italienne (environ 75 bibliothèques).

Par ailleurs, la classification de l'OFS répartit les établissements selon sept catégories<fnref n="4" />:

⊙ bibliothèques à vocation nationale (1);

⊙ bibliothèques publiques des villes de plus de 1000 habitants (118);

⊙ bibliothèques publiques communales et mixtes (communales et scolaires) des communes en dessous de 10 000 habitants (521);

⊙ bibliothèques universitaires (15);

⊙ bibliothèques facultaires ou de séminaires rattachées aux réseaux de bibliothèques des universités (88);

<footnote n="4">4. Pour chaque catégorie, le nombre d'établissements ayant répondu à l'enquête de l'OFS en 2014 est mentionné entre parenthèses.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_14.png" /></figure>

bibliothèques appartenant aux réseaux de bibliothèques des hautes écoles spécialisées (58);

<figure><img src="image_15.png" /></figure>

bibliothèques des hautes écoles pédagogiques (10).

Ainsi, les 639 bibliothèques de lecture publique ayant répondu à cette enquête de l'OFS représentent près de 80 % des bibliothèques suisses recensées. Les trois quarts de ces établissements sont germanophones, contre 17 % de francophones et seulement 8 % d'italophones.

Bien qu'une réflexion soit menée depuis le début des années 2000 pour améliorer le recensement des données concernant les bibliothèques au niveau fédéral<fnref n="5" />, les statistiques concernant les bibliothèques de lecture publique restent fragmentaires et ne permettent pas de dresser un portrait exhaustif du paysage bibliothéconomique suisse. Toutefois, il est possible d'établir que sur les 8 millions d'habitants, environ 12 % des Suisses sont « utilisateurs actifs»<fnref n="6" /> d'une bibliothèque de lecture publique.

Si la récence du marché des livres numériques et des pratiques des lecteurs a une influence sur les données de l'OFS, c'est également le cas du cadre juridique afférent, encore en définition.

## Cadre juridique: contrat privé vs LDA

Entrée en vigueur en 1993, la Loi sur le droit d'auteur (LDA) a évidemment un fort impact sur le fonctionnement des bibliothèques. Bien que révisée en 2007 afin de s'adapter aux évolutions technologiques, la loi actuelle ne permet pas de répondre clairement à l'ensemble des questions liées aux spécificités du

<footnote n="5">5. Bibliothèque information Suisse (BIS), Rapport d'activités XII (état au 30-12-2013).</footnote>

<footnote n="6">6. OFS, « Définitions des variables de la statistique suisse des bibliothèques. Questionnaire long, questions complémentaires et benchmarking », mars 2015, p. 3 : « Utilisateurs inscrits ayant, pendant l'année considérée: – emprunté au moins un document; – recouru au moins 1 fois à une autre prestation enregistrée sur son compte électronique (prêt à distance, copie, Internet, recherche dans une base de données etc.). »</footnote>
livre numérique: l'« exception bibliothécaire » prévue dans la LDA autorisant les bibliothèques à prêter des livres imprimés ne s'applique pas aux ressources électroniques. Ainsi, les droits qui régissent l'utilisation des livres numériques sont fixés par des contrats privés établis entre les fournisseurs et les bibliothèques et prévalent sur l'actuelle LDA. En ce sens, le Conseil fédéral a mis en consultation en décembre 2015 un projet visant à « moderniser le droit d'auteur » et à « lutter contre le piratage sur Internet ». Celui-ci s'appuie notamment sur les recommandations émanant du groupe de travail « Droit d'auteur » AGUR 12⁷ institué en 2012 par Simonetta Sommaruga, à l'époque conseillère fédérale et actuelle présidente de la Confédération.

Publié en 2013, le rapport du groupe AGUR 12 aborde deux points concernant directement les bibliothèques<fnref n="8" />:

⊙ L'instauration d'un droit de prêt pour les œuvres numériques et analogues. En France ou en Allemagne, l'autre perçoit une rémunération lorsque son œuvre est empruntée, le « tantième ». Cet usage s'est imposé dans l'Union européenne dès 1992. En Suisse, ce droit n'existe pas. Ainsi, l'Association suisse des diffuseurs, éditeurs et libraires (ASDEL) ainsi que des écrivains se sont joints à l'association Autrices et auteurs de Suisse (ADS) pour réclamer son instauration. Par l'intermédiaire de la commission de la Bibliothèque nationale<fnref n="9" /> ainsi que l'association Bibliothèque information Suisse (BIS)<fnref n="10" />, les bibliothèques rejettent fermement cette proposition. Dans sa

<footnote n="7">7. Constitué de représentants des acteurs et consommateurs du milieu culturel suisse. Les bibliothèques n'ont pas été intégrées aux discussions malgré la demande des associations professionnelles.</footnote>

<footnote n="8">8. Rapport final AGUR 12 du 28 novembre 2013.</footnote>

<footnote n="9">9. Commission de la Bibliothèque nationale suisse, Rapport d'activité 2013.</footnote>

<footnote n="10">10. La BIS est l'association nationale des bibliothèques, des centres de documentation et de leurs collaborateurs.</footnote>
prise de position<fnref n="11" />, la BIS rappelle que l'utilisation et le prêt de livres numériques sont fixés de façon contractuelle, la rémunération étant alors réglée individuellement, selon les accords passés entre auteurs et éditeurs et en fonction du produit généré par les droits de licences vendus aux bibliothèques. Instaurer un tantième des bibliothèques équivaudrait donc à rémunérer deux fois les auteurs.

◎ Une nouvelle restriction au droit d'auteur, avec la création d'un « privilège » pour les musées et institutions de la mémoire (bibliothèques). Cette restriction autoriserait les bibliothèques à publier les couvertures et les tables des matières dans leur catalogue en ligne. Elle leur permettrait ainsi de mieux se positionner par rapport aux géants du Web. On pourrait alors imaginer qu'un lecteur effectuant une recherche sur un moteur grand public se voie proposer l'offre payante mais également la possibilité d'emprunter le livre en bibliothèque.

La visibilité des ressources numériques et des services offerts par les bibliothèques est d'autant plus importante et stratégique que le téléchargement est légal en Suisse. En effet, selon l'article 19 de la LDA, télécharger une œuvre pour son usage privé, même si celle-ci est protégée par le droit d'auteur, ne constitue pas un acte illégal. La loi précise que la copie d'une œuvre pour un usage privé par une personne physique peut se faire depuis une source illégale. Ainsi, un lecteur peut aisément se procurer gratuitement et en toute légalité des ouvrages protégés sans passer par l'intermédiaire d'une bibliothèque<fnref n="12" />. On mesure ici tout l'enjeu pour les bibliothèques quant à la mise en valeur de leur offre

<footnote n="11">11. BIS, « Prise de position du groupe de travail droits d'auteurs de BIS relative à l'introduction du droit de prêt en bibliothèque sur les documents imprimés et électroniques », 22 août 2014.</footnote>

<footnote n="12">12. Notons toutefois que la mise à disposition d'une œuvre protégée reste illégale en Suisse. La plupart des sites qui proposent de télécharger des e-books protégés sont en *peer-to-peer*, ce qui constitue une violation du droit d'auteur.</footnote>
d'e-books et du développement de services attractifs apportant une réelle valeur ajoutée pour leurs lecteurs. La réflexion et les initiatives en la matière s'inscrivent donc dans un paysage complexe, notamment du fait de l'instabilité des modèles et de certains décalages, voire incompatibilités, entre contextes helvétique et français.

## L'offre de livres numériques en Suisse romande

Avant même le développement d'une offre de prêt d'e-books protégés par des droits d'auteur qui se heurte, on l'a vu, à des freins de différentes natures, plusieurs projets de numérisation d'œuvres libres de droits ont rapidement émergé en Suisse. Parmi ces initiatives, relevons deux projets :

○ Digicoord, une plateforme d'information qui centralise et donne accès à plus de 450 projets de numérisation en Suisse.

○ La Bibliothèque numérique romande (BNR) qui propose une offre de publications numériques gratuite. Elle prône la diffusion d'œuvres littéraires majoritairement locales tombées dans le domaine public ou « données gracieusement » par les auteurs à des fins de promotion et de diffusion.

La situation est plus complexe en ce qui concerne les ouvrages payants.

## Une offre commerciale restreinte et contrainte

L'offre de livres numériques romands est aujourd'hui limitée<fnref n="13" />. Bien que les maisons d'édition suisses soient soutenues financièrement par la Confédération, les sommes destinées aux publications en ligne et aux livres numériques restent extrêmement

<footnote n="13">13. Association suisse des éditeurs de langue française (ASELF), Cultur@ctif, 2002.</footnote>
modestes. En 2011, les contributions octroyées par les pouvoirs publics pour soutenir directement les publications numériques et les e-books s'élèvent au total à 8 000 francs suisses, soit seulement 0,05 % du budget global destiné à la littérature<fnref n="14" />.

D'un côté, certains éditeurs semblent se montrer frileux face à l'instabilité du modèle économique et à la chaîne de valeur à mettre en place (marché restreint et cadre législatif flou). De l'autre, une partie de ces acteurs produisent pour le moment moins de 10 titres par année et n'ont vraisemblablement pas les moyens financiers ni les compétences techniques pour proposer des versions numériques de tous leurs ouvrages. Ainsi, les éditeurs suisses romands sont-ils rares<fnref n="15" /> à s'être lancés dans la production et la diffusion de livres numériques. De ce fait, les e-books francophones mis à disposition dans les bibliothèques suisses viennent très majoritairement d'éditeurs français. Cette situation a une double conséquence pour les bibliothèques : d'une part, les auteurs suisses sont peu représentés dans leur offre numérique et, d'autre part, elles doivent se tourner vers des éditeurs étrangers pour leurs acquisitions en français. En effet, acheber à l'étranger est complexe, notamment du fait de cadres juridiques peu compatibles et de spécificités territoriales<fnref n="16" />. Certains éditeurs français peu intéressés par le marché suisse romand, souvent jugé trop restreint, tardent à lever les restrictions territoriales<fnref n="17" />, empêchant les personnes résidant en Suisse d'acquérir des documents en ligne. Pour les bibliothèques, la problématique est similaire, puisque certains éditeurs, notamment Hachette<fnref n="18" />, refusent encore de s'ouvrir à ce marché.

<footnote n="14">14. OFC, « Promotion de la littérature en Suisse. Mesures des pouvoirs publics. Panorama 2011 », 2013.</footnote>

<footnote n="15">15. Comme les éditions Plaisir de lire, les éditions Zoé, ou les éditions Antipodes.</footnote>

<footnote n="16">16. Par exemple, la Suisse fait partie de la zone linguistique francophone européenne mais possède sa propre monnaie.</footnote>

<footnote n="17">17. Sophie Proust, « Suisse: restrictions territoriales pour télécharger des e-books », 17 octobre 2013, podcast de RTS.ch.</footnote>

<footnote n="18">18. Ibid.</footnote>
## Pas de prix unique pour le livre

Contrairement à la France où le livre est considéré comme une exception culturelle, le prix du livre en Suisse romande est fixé librement depuis 1992. Suite à un référendum en mars 2012, les Suisses ont dû se positionner en ce qui concerne le prix unique du livre: malgré l'adhésion de toute la Suisse romande, la loi est rejetée par 56,1 % des votes. Celle-ci autorisait les éditeurs ou les diffuseurs à fixer le prix avec une tolérance de 5 % de rabais. Si le prix unique du livre permet en France de garantir un accès uniforme à cette ressource, pour les opposants à la loi, la suppression de la concurrence aurait eu pour conséquence d'augmenter les prix et d'isoler le marché helvétique. Face à ce rejet, les librairies, plutôt favorables à l'introduction d'un prix unique, ont dû rapidement se positionner stratégiquement sur le nouveau marché des livres numériques pour concurrencer les grands distributeurs tels qu'Amazon.

Sous l'impulsion de l'Office du livre de Fribourg (OLF), les librairies indépendantes se sont organisées pour créer la plateforme numérique commune de vente d'e-books e-Readers. Cette plateforme permet aux plus petites structures de vendre des e-books sans devoir développer et maintenir leur propre site de vente en ligne. Dans ce modèle, les ventes sont attribuées au libraire choisi par l'acheteur, lequel perçoit automatiquement une commission de 25 % du prix de vente. Malgré les prises de contact de la Communauté de travail des bibliothèques suisses de lecture publique (CLP) avec l'OLF pour intégrer les bibliothèques, il n'existe à ce jour pas encore d'offre dédiée aux bibliothèques. L'acquisition d'e-books par les bibliothèques se fait auprès de librairies en ligne, au même titre que les clients privés, le prêt n'étant pas prévu. Pour contourner cette restriction, certaines bibliothèques passent par le prêt de dispositifs mobiles préchargés.
En bibliothèque : une offre difficile à caractériser

Peu de données statistiques concernent précisément les e-books
dans les bibliothèques suisses. Il est en effet difficile d'identifier
ces ressources parmi les « types de documents » listés par l'OFS
qui les classe selon trois catégories :

⊙ les journaux et périodiques électroniques;

⊙ les bases de données et les documents numériques indivi-
duels consultables sur support numérique (DVD, CD-Rom,
disquettes, etc.);

⊙ les bases de données et les documents numériques indivi-
duels consultables sur serveur local ou en ligne.

Ici, les e-books ne sont pas pris en compte en tant que tels mais
sont compris dans les bases de données. Il est donc difficile
d'avoir une vision claire de la situation actuelle. On peut mal-
gré tout constater de grandes disparités entre les bibliothèques:
certaines offrent un accès à quelques dizaines de livres élec-
troniques, tandis que d'autres en annoncent plusieurs centaines
de milliers. Sur l'ensemble des bibliothèques interrogées, les
plus nombreuses à en proposer sont les bibliothèques à voca-
tion nationale et les bibliothèques académiques alors que seule-
ment un tiers des bibliothèques de lecture publique en mettent
à disposition.

Signalons, par ailleurs, que l'intérêt de tous ces acteurs pour le
livre numérique s'est renforcé ces cinq dernières années afin
de répondre aux besoins de la population suisse en termes de
lecture numérique. En effet, le taux d'équipement en disposi-
tifs mobiles de lecture est très élevé puisqu'en 2014, plus des
deux tiers de la population possèdent un smartphone, et près
de 40 % une tablette<fnref n="19" />. Ainsi, le profil technologique des Suisses

<footnote n="19">19. Ralf Beyeler, « Smartphones: le marché suisse saturé », Comparis.ch, 2015.</footnote>
est très développé, et la lecture numérique *via* ces dispositifs mobiles s'intègre de plus en plus dans les pratiques. Les prévisions laissent envisager que ce nouveau mode d'accès au contenu ne va cesser de croître, d'où l'importance de la question de l'offre numérique pour les bibliothèques, comme nous le verrons dans la partie suivante.

<figure><img src="image_16.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 9 – Part de détenteurs de smartphones et de tablettes en Suisse</figcaption></figure>

Source: https://fr.comparis.ch/.

## La situation aujourd'hui pour les bibliothèques suisses

En ce qui concerne la lecture publique, la première offre importante d'e-books remonte à 2013 avec le lancement de la plate-forme diviost<fnref n="20" />, la bibliothèque numérique de la Suisse orientale rassemblant 15 bibliothèques de la partie alémanique du pays. Le développement du prêt d'e-books dans les bibliothèques suisses romandes a, quant à lui, démarré dans la foulée et s'est considérablement accéléré ces deux dernières années.

<footnote n="20">20. Le fournisseur de médias numériques pour cette plateforme est divibib, Bibliothèque digitale virtuelle pour les bibliothèques publiques.</footnote>
Position de la Bibliothèque nationale suisse

Dans le cadre de sa mission patrimoniale de préservation de l'hé-
ritage culturel défini par la loi<fnref n="21" />, la Bibliothèque nationale suisse
(BNS) se charge de collecter de manière exhaustive un exem-
plaire de tous les livres publiés sur le territoire, qu'il soit papier
ou né numérique. Pour mener à bien cette mission, des collabo-
rations ont été mises en place directement avec certains éditeurs
produisant des livres numériques.

Depuis 2014, la BNS travaille également avec mbassador, un
intermédiaire spécialisé dans la transformation de livres impri-
més en livres électroniques. S'appuyant sur un partenariat avec
90 maisons d'édition suisses alémaniques et romandes, dont
Bernard Campiche Éditeur, Schwabe Verlag, Beobachter, ou
encore Zytglogge Verlag, mbassador GmbH soutient la BNS dans
sa collecte des publications numériques produites en Suisse.
L'entreprise voit cette collaboration comme une opportunité
de proposer l'accès à une diffusion plus large de son catalogue,
puisqu'elle peut distribuer les e-books qu'elle produit sur dif-
férentes plateformes commerciales. Protégés par la LDA, ces
fichiers numériques ne peuvent être prêtés ni aux usagers de la
BNS, ni à d'autres bibliothèques, les droits de diffusion n'ayant
pas été négociés dans ce sens.

À l'heure actuelle, seule la consultation (lecture uniquement) sur
place, dans l'enceinte de la bibliothèque, est possible, et l'exten-
sion de cette offre à d'autres institutions partenaires n'est pour
le moment pas encore prévue. Cependant, la BNS ayant comme
autre mission de « rendre accessibles les publications relatives

<footnote n="21">21. Les autorités fédérales de la Confédération suisse, Loi fédérale du 18 décembre 1992 sur la Bibliothèque nationale suisse (LBNS; RS 432.21).</footnote>
à la Suisse, qu'elles soient électroniques ou sur papier»<fnref n="22" />, il est
vraisemblable que des démarches soient engagées en ce sens.

Des réseaux en construction

En 2011, la situation en Suisse romande s'apparente à celle
de la France: l'instabilité du modèle économique ainsi que les
contraintes techniques importantes rendent complexe<fnref n="23" /> l'ac-
cès aux services. En l'absence d'offre unifiée, les bibliothèques
doivent multiplier les négociations avec les éditeurs et se
confrontent aux différentes juridictions française et suisse. En
dépit de la perspective d'augmenter le potentiel de ventes et
d'un modèle commercial avantageux (les livres sont vendus en
général plus cher aux bibliothèques suisses), certains éditeurs
se montrent peu intéressés par ce marché. En 2013, sous l'im-
pulsion de la CLP, plusieurs bibliothèques romandes manifestent
leur volonté de créer un consortium en Suisse. Cet unique groupe
ne verra toutefois pas le jour, principalement pour des raisons
de redondance avec le Réseau Carel. Ouvert et accessible à la
Suisse, ce consortium a permis, en concertation avec la CLP, la
mise en place d'offres commerciales concrètes à destination des
bibliothèques romandes dans le cadre de Prêt numérique en
bibliothèque (PNB)<fnref n="24" />.

Dans cet environnement encore instable, la médiathèque Valais
a joué au printemps 2013 le rôle de pionnière en devenant la
première bibliothèque de lecture publique suisse romande
à proposer une offre de livres numériques à ses usagers, en
français, allemand et anglais. La médiathèque les acquiert via
Numilog pour la partie francophone et divibib pour les ouvrages

<footnote n="22">22. DFI, Bibliothèque nationale suisse, 2015.</footnote>

<footnote n="23">23. CLP, Les ressources numériques en bibliothèque publique et scolaire : étude pour la Suisse romande. Rapport final, 2011.</footnote>

<footnote n="24">24. Offre d'accès à e-bibliomedia, 2015.</footnote>
germanophones (des ouvrages en anglais étant disponibles *via* les deux plateformes). Les abonnés de la médiathèque Valais peuvent directement télécharger leurs e-books sur leurs lecteurs personnels depuis ces plateformes, qui intègrent un système de gestion du prêt (10 emprunts simultanés par lecteur, chronodégradabilité effective au bout de 28 jours), ou encore les consulter en ligne. Parallèlement à cette offre de contenus (plus de 9 300 titres), la médiathèque fournit également des dispositifs de lecture (tablettes ou liseuses) à ses usagers pour une durée de 28 jours. Pour le moment, la médiathèque ne propose pas d'atelier ou de formation dédiés à l'utilisation de ces dispositifs de lecture, l'accent ayant été mis sur les guides<fnref n="25" /> pour aider les usagers à se familiariser avec ces appareils. Dans les mois qui ont suivi, se sont également lancées dans l'aventure la bibliothèque de la ville de Blonay – Saint-Légier (canton de Vaud) ou encore les bibliothèques de La Chaux-de-Fonds (canton de Neuchâtel) et de la ville de Bienne (partie francophone du canton de Berne). En décembre 2014, les bibliothèques de la ville de Carouge (canton de Genève) ont lancé une offre d'e-books de 500 titres en français, complétée par 200 titres de presse « adultes » et 40 titres « jeunesse » (5 emprunts simultanés pour 4 semaines) fournis par PNB et LeKiosk. Si le prêt de dispositifs a été envisagé en 2012, l'idée a été abandonnée du fait d'un dés intérêt des usagers pour ce service. Plus récemment, la Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire (BCU) de Lausanne a mis en ligne sa plateforme de prêt de livres numériques grand public: 8 500 titres sont proposés, dont 6 000 en français et le reste en anglais. Chaque abonné peut emprunter au maximum 10 titres simultanément pour 3 ou 4 semaines selon les éditeurs. Un service de prêt de liseuses est également proposé.

<footnote n="25">25. Guide pour les iPad.</footnote>
Ce mode de fonctionnement garantit une indépendance dont le
principal avantage réside dans la liberté de choix des documents.
Il autorise également une certaine souplesse concernant l'adap-
tation de l'offre suite aux retours des usagers. En contrepartie,
il est nécessaire de devoir jongler avec les multiples pratiques
et modèles commerciaux des éditeurs, la marge de manœuvre
concernant les négociations étant nécessairement réduite.

Parallèlement à ces initiatives, deux projets de plateformes com-
munes ont vu le jour, FReBOOKS et e-bibliomedia.

<figure><img src="image_17.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 10 – Offre d'e-books en bibliothèque: situation romande en avril 2015</figcaption></figure>

Infographie: Martin Grandjean.
La plateforme bilingue (français / allemand) FReBOOKS a été
initiée dans le canton de Fribourg par la BCU en collaboration
avec les bibliothèques de lecture publique et mixte du canton
(24 établissements au total en avril 2015). Elle permet aux lec-
teurs inscrits d'emprunter 5 e-books simultanément pour une
durée de 28 jours. La politique adoptée consiste à acquérir des
ouvrages de littérature générale (romans, essais, etc.) et docu-
mentaires tout en gardant un équilibre entre les deux langues.
Actuellement, environ 1600 titres sont proposés en français pour
environ 1750 en allemand. Dans ce projet pilote, la BCU joue le
rôle de référente et se charge non seulement de la sélection et
du financement des e-books auprès de Numilog, mais aussi de
la création de guides d'utilisation destinés aux lecteurs et aux
bibliothécaires. Elle propose également des formations à desti-
nation des professionnels. De leur côté, les bibliothèques affiliées
s'emploient à promouvoir la plateforme et à former leurs usagers.

Lancée en novembre 2014 par la fondation Bibliomedia, la pla-
teforme e-bibliomedia permet aux abonnés des bibliothèques
associées<fnref n="26" /> d'emprunter des e-books parmi un catalogue de plus
de 2100 titres auprès du fournisseur de contenus Cantook par
l'intermédiaire de PNB. La participation à la «première biblio-
thèque numérique des bibliothèques publiques romandes» est
ouverte à toutes les bibliothèques de Romandie, indépendamment
de leur canton et de leur taille. Lors de la phase pilote, les biblio-
thèques participantes pouvaient inscrire jusqu'à 200 lecteurs,
donnant à chacun la possibilité d'emprunter jusqu'à 5 e-books
simultanément pour 21 à 28 jours. À l'issue de la première année
de fonctionnement, le bilan était positif puisque 40 bibliothèques
étaient affiliées et près de 1800 lecteurs avaient utilisé le service

<footnote n="26">26. Au démarrage, vingt-cinq bibliothèques de lecture publique romandes faisaient partie du projet.</footnote>
pour effectuer environ 10 000 emprunts<fnref n="27" />. Les bibliothèques du réseau étant de nature et de taille hétérogènes, cette offre mutualisée ne peut répondre parfaitement aux besoins de cha-cune. À terme, le réseau devra probablement évoluer vers une organisation sous forme de consortium, de manière à pouvoir négocier les formules d'acquisition les plus adéquates.

## Un écosystème en cours de stabilisation

Malgré de timides débuts liés à plusieurs freins comme le manque d'ouvrages numériques francophones locaux, l'absence d'un mo-dèle économique stable favorable et un certain flou juridique, l'offre d'e-books dans les bibliothèques de lecture publique romandes se met en place, s'organise et s'étoffe de manière rapide et efficace.

Trois schémas d'action émergent pour contrer les limites lis-tées ci-dessus. Le premier consiste à démarcher directement et de manière autonome des fournisseurs d'e-books francophones tels que Cantook ou Numilog. Le deuxième, vraisemblablement le moins complexe, est de rejoindre des consortiums existants, comme le Réseau Carel. Le troisième, probablement le plus coû-teux en temps, est de se regrouper afin de peser davantage dans la balance des négociations de licences avec les éditeurs (tarifs et droits d'utilisation). Ainsi, les partenariats s'organisent au sein et avec les bibliothèques publiques de Suisse romande par l'intermé-diaire du groupe de travail de la CLP et de Bibliomedia. Les retom-bées positives pour les lecteurs sont déjà visibles, grâce notam-ment aux initiatives e-bibliomedia et FReBOOKS.

Aujourd'hui, des pistes de réflexion sont vraisemblablement à investiguer du côté des bibliothèques universitaires, qui ont depuis

<footnote n="27">27. Laurent Voisard, « La plateforme de prêt de livres numériques e-bibliomedia », *Revue électronique suisse de science de l'information*, décembre 2015, n° 16.</footnote>
longtemps intégré les documents numériques à leurs collections. Bien que l'acquisition d'e-books en tant que telle soit relative- ment récente dans certaines bibliothèques académiques, celles- ci se sont rapidement structurées en consortiums indépendam- ment des frontières linguistiques. Déjà fonctionnelle et bien éta- blie, cette organisation leur confère une véritable avance sur leurs consœurs de la lecture publique, notamment dans la négociation des licences. Les préoccupations liées aux e-books ont ainsi pu glisser de l'acquisition vers la valorisation, et il est probable que la situation évolue de la même manière pour la lecture publique au cours des prochaines années. Ici, certains éléments à régler et sur lesquels communiquer et former sont similaires quels que soient le type de structure et le type de contenu numérique :

○ blocages liés aux aspects techniques (connexion wifi, VPN, DRM, formats de fichiers, etc.) de l'accès aux ressources;

○ méconnaissance de l'offre par les utilisateurs potentiels;

○ interfaces de recherche peu adaptées;

○ organisation des contenus en décalage avec les besoins des usagers;

○ appropriation et usages des dispositifs mobiles de lecture.

Finalement, la multiplication d'initiatives indépendantes autant que la mise en place d'actions communes à plusieurs établisse- ments nous semblent être des indicateurs encourageants concer- nant l'offre d'e-books en bibliothèque de lecture publique en Suisse qui, si elle a tardé à se mettre en place, est aujourd'hui dans une réelle dynamique positive.
3. E-book lending
in U.S. public libraries<fnref n="1" />

by Sue Polanka

Today I will give a big picture of industry statistics, and public libraries in the U.S. to give you an idea of where we are, and then from that I'll address that data throughout the presentation. Because we are talking about public libraries, a big part of our discussion today will be about the distributors that we work with, and the people that libraries have the option to buy e-books from. And we'll talk about the relationships we've had with them and the publishers we call the Big Six. They're very popular in the U.S., Hachette being one of them.

After I tell you all the good and bad things that have happened, I'll talk about the advocacy groups that helped us get where we are today, because they really have been critical in getting us where we are. We still have many challenges, but also opportunities, so I'll address those and end on a positive note on some other things that are working for us.

<footnote n="1">1. Transcript of the presentation, October 2014, Enssib (Lyon).</footnote>
Some industry statistics

<figure><img src="image_18.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 11</figcaption></figure>

I wanted to put France and the U.S. next to each other so you
could get an idea of what our market is like.

E-books, as far as trade titles go, being genre fiction, is a 23%
market share in the U.S., with about $2.3 billion in sales. If we
look at France, it's obviously a smaller market than what we
have, about 1.5 to 3% market share for the same type of content.

If you put them side by side and say that these numbers aren't
even, it's because we collect data differently. So keep that in mind
as you look at those numbers. In France, it's 190 million euros,
and an estimate market share of 4.5% by 2014.
<figure><img src="image_19.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 13</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_20.png" /></figure>
If you look at this chart, you can see where we are in 2013-2014
in the U.S.: we're about $4.6 to $5.7 billion, with estimates of over
$8 billion by 2017. But here is something that is extremely inte-
resting. The way the trends are going, they show that print and
e-book sales will cross in a few years, where e-books will outsell
print as early as 2017. That is coming up pretty soon for the U.S.

U.S. Public library Statistics

<figure><img src="image_21.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 14</figcaption></figure>

We have just shy of 9,000 public library systems in the U.S., and
by systems, I mean an entire county might have one system, but
they might have 20 locations in that system, so 9,000 library sys-
tems in the U.S., but many more actual locations. Of those, quite
a few have e-books.
<figure><img src="image_22.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 15</figcaption></figure>

We've had pretty good penetration for e-books in e-book lending in our public libraries. The *Library Journal*, which is a big publication in the U.S. for library information, back in 2010, started doing an annual survey of public libraries, school libraries, and academic libraries when it came to e-books. So I have been able to capture their data for the last four years.

We started around 72 to 74%, and now we are up to about 89% of the public libraries that offer some kind of e-book lending or some type of e-book collection.
<figure><img src="image_23.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 16</figcaption></figure>

To put it into perspective, we said before that 23% of our market share for genre fiction books is for e-books. That is because 28% of Americans aged 16 or older are reading e-books. This was a survey done in 2014, earlier this year.
<figure><img src="image_24.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 17</figcaption></figure>

They asked the same questions just a couple of years before, and
it had jumped up from 23%, so it is rising.
<figure><img src="image_25.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 19</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_26.png" /></figure>
This chart shows you that 50% of Americans have either a tablet or an e-reading device, and we say adults, that is people that are above 18 years old.

What is interesting is that many of our younger children also have them. Many are getting them through their schools. Many of our school systems are getting rid of textbooks, getting rid of their libraries, and replacing them with what you have in the back row: computers, laptops, tablets, and also giving the students their own device. So if we were to look at this for children, we would be able to see a rise for that too.

*Do we have to understand that you already have many examples of schools with no paper at all? No library and no schoolbooks on paper?*

Just a couple with no paper. Most have both. But many schools are starting to get rid of their textbooks and give students the device. Maybe they're replacing the textbooks with an online textbook, or the teachers and the faculty are finding websites, documents, apps to replace the textbooks. In fact I'm from Ohio, which is right in the middle, under the lakes in the U.S. I went to a high school in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is called Mother of Mercy High School. Last year they got rid of their textbooks, and all of the incoming students get an iPad. They use it for everything. That is happening more and more. But there are only a couple schools that completely wiped out the print, and those are very controversial.

So half of us, in the U.S., own some type of e-reading device, a tablet. As the ownership of these devices increases, they are also looking at the data for what people do on these devices. Reading is increasing. Many people get the device for nonreading activities. I will be completely honest with you: my iPad is used 98% of the time to play games. My favorite is *Carcassonne*. I don't know
if you have ever played, but you have a lovely town by the name
of that in France. That is one of my favorite games. It is an app,
and that is what I like to do. We also watch movies, but more and
more, as more people own them, we are starting to use them more
for reading. I am Ok with that, because it means people are rea-
ding. I read print books, I read electronic books, I don't think the
two of them are fighting. I think they can both live harmoniously.
We have a choice. And there are benefits of one over the other.

The use of tablets for reading has doubled. Obviously the use of
the computer is dropping, because more people in the U.S. are get-
ting rid of their laptops and replacing them with tablets. And the
phone, amazingly, is going up in terms of use for reading. I can-
not fathom reading a book on that small screen. But my daughter
does it. She reads fanfiction, and she writes books on her iPhone.

<figure><img src="image_27.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 20</figcaption></figure>

As a response to this increase in ownership, and increase in rea-
ding on the devices, public libraries are having to look at their
overall book budget: what they spend on print, what they spend on paperback, what they spend on electronic books, and they are adjusting it to accommodate.

So the same survey from *Library Journal* that I talked about, back in 2013, this is what the distribution looked like. Most of the libraries were spending 3 to 5% – that's the green – or 6 to 10% – the orange – and 11 to 15%, in the red, for e-books. The rest of their budget was spent then on print.

<figure><img src="image_28.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 21</figcaption></figure>

If we asked them “What will you spend in 2018”, five years later, you see how the colors have changed, and many libraries are looking to spend more than 15% of their budgets on e-books. This is also controversial. I will give you an example.

In a small city near Chicago, the library decided that they would spend 25% of their book budget on e-books. The people in the community were outraged, and they fought back. They took to the city officials data that showed how many people in their area
lived below the poverty line (people with very low incomes), and discussed the fact that they don't own the devices or the computers, or they don't have an Internet connection at home that will allow them to use the 25% of the book budget. The community founded a non-profit organization to fight back against the library, and they won. The library dropped that number back down to something that represented the community a little better. They learned the hard way how to do that.

<figure><img src="image_29.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 22</figcaption></figure>

Sadly, 63% of people in the U.S. 16 or older (people that don't use libraries) have no idea that their public library lends e-books. That is a huge challenge. Marketing, getting the word out, it is a very difficult challenge. Because how do you promote something that you can't see? Most people come to their library, they visit, and they walk around... How do you promote the electronic book? They have interesting displays, but you can't set it out with a beautiful cover. It is much harder.
<figure><img src="image_30.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 23</figcaption></figure>

I am going to show you now the statistic that includes people that have a library card. Do you think it is going to be a lot lower?

It is not a lot lower, it is 58%. 58% of people that own a library card still don't know the library lends e-books. So we have a lot of work to do to get the word out that we actually have the content, because most people that go and buy their devices, guess what they do? They buy all of their content from Amazon, or from Kobo, or Barnes & Noble.
<figure><img src="image_31.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 24</figcaption></figure>

*One of the companies that we work with in the U.S. for public library e-books is called OverDrive. Are they distributing here? Not yet?*

Well, be ready, I am sure they will be soon enough. They started back in the year 2003, that is when they began lending, selling and leasing e-books. It took them from 2003, all the way to 2012, to get 100 million checkouts of e-books nationwide. In 2013, in one year, they did the same thing. So that just shows you the huge increase in library e-books that are downloaded.

The first 100 million took 9 years. The second 100 million took a year. The third 100 million is probably going to be 9 months, and it will keep going. So we have learned that more people own devices, more people interested are interested in e-books. Someone out there knows we have books because OverDrive had 100 million checkouts in one year. Wait until the other 58% find out that we have books! The numbers are going to really grow.
Distributors and the Big Six

I want to shift gears and talk about the Big Six, as we call them.

<figure><img src="image_32.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 25</figcaption></figure>

In public libraries in the U.S., we have choices of who we pur-
chase from. I use the word “purchase” very loosely, because we
don’t own any of these books. We pay a fee and we have access.
So when I say purchase, keep that in mind, we don’t own it. There
are multiple companies that we can use.

OverDrive, as I mentioned, started back in 2003. There were
other companies before then, but they primarily sold academic
content. What is up on the screen here are the primary public
library vendors. There are probably 20 more if you look at school
and academic libraries. We have a number of choices of vendors.
In addition to these third-party distributors, we can also buy
directly from publishers, for academic and school titles. Public
libraries don't have too much of that. Most of the fiction books
have to come through these vendors here. It took all the way
until 2011 for OverDrive to have some real competition. So you
can imagine that of those 9,000 public library systems, the majo-
rity of them are OverDrive customers, because they have been
around the longest.

When the competition came out, we had Baker & Taylor. They
distribute print and electronic.

3M, the post-it note company, have a cloud library now. They sell
library e-books. And they are doing quite well. They were esta-
blished the same year.

And then a company called Freading, they are part of a lar-
ger group a companies. They do digital books, audio, and some
other things, also established the same year. In 2013 and 2014,
a couple of other new companies are coming around, and they
are trying things different. They are all trying to offer something
that OverDrive doesn't. Because the primary market share is with
OverDrive, so they are trying to encourage people: "Come look at
what we have, we do it different, we can save you money, we can
offer you different services."

Odilo is a Spanish company, they are in Madrid. They also are sel-
ling their product throughout Latin America, and now in the U.S.
as well. They are a very interesting company, and I would encou-
rage you to perhaps start talking with them. I will tell you a little
more about them in a moment.

Total Boox is from Israel. They have a very interesting business
model, which I will tell you about.

So there are many choices. And all of these companies want to
sell internationally to public libraries. That is their goal. They are
just not there yet. I will tell you a little bit about each and you can
write down your favorite, and then go start to talk to people in
France about "We need Total Boox", or "We need this company."
OverDrive

<figure><img src="image_33.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 26</figcaption></figure>

They have got almost 2 million titles available. That is the largest
collection of titles, from about 5,000 different publishers.

Among the vendors that sell or lease books to public libraries,
they are the only ones that have worked out an agreement with
Amazon and have Kindle format. That is huge, because Amazon
and the Kindle Fire is 75% of the U.S. market share. And the people
that have iPads, guess what they use for e-books? The Kindle
Reader. Not iBooks. They download the Amazon Kindle app. This
is something that OverDrive has that no one else offers. They also
offer browser-based reader, so that you don't need a device at all,
you can still use the computer at home, and you can read while
you are not even connected, you can still read the book through the
browser. They also sell content from all Big Six. And that is key too.
Every public library wants titles from all of the Big Six.
Baker & Taylor

<figure><img src="image_34.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 27</figcaption></figure>

They launched in 2011. They have just around 600,000 titles, and quite a few audio titles, which OverDrive has too. They have two things that are very unique. One is that they have an app, the Blio e-reader, which is completely accessible for people with disabilities. So anyone with a hearing, sight, physical, whatever kind of disability it is, this reader can help them consume the books, because it is accessible. That is a big thing, because accessibility is quite a challenge with e-books.

They also distribute to libraries print and electronic together, which makes them unique. It really consolidates what libraries have to do. Because right now in our public libraries, we have one department or person that buys print books, another that buys e-books, another one that buys audiobooks, another one that buys journals... There is a different group for everything. Baker & Taylor allows libraries to combine their print and e-book
people together. In one purchase, you can say: “I will take that in large print, I will take that in hardback, I will take it in e-book form, and audiobook form.” All this in one transaction. This is a very nice feature, because purchasing e-books is a very cumbersome thing to do. Often it is book by book by book, single transactions. Baker & Taylor also have all Big Six now.

3M

<figure><img src="image_35.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 28</figcaption></figure>

They have an even smaller amount of books: 300,000 from 1,300 publishers, so not much.

Here is what makes them unique: they were established at a time when there was a big uproar in Kansas. There was a big uproar there with the public libraries and with the state library. Each of our states has a state library. The state library was licensing e-books from OverDrive, and in 2011, OverDrive came to them and said: “Your fees are going to go up by 150%.” Kansas went
"No way, I'm not paying that, I'm not paying these fees." They looked at their contract and read the small print, and it said: "You can take these books somewhere else, as long as you get permission from the publishers to take them." So that's what Kansas did. They contacted every publisher they had books from, and they said "Can we move these titles?", and they went to 3M. That's what their model is, that's what makes them unique. It's a year by year commitment. Libraries, in a contract that is signed, have the opportunity to walk away with their titles and go somewhere else. That's a very interesting feature.

Another thing that makes them unique: they are the only company, that in addition to selling content, also sell devices. They have a 3M e-reader, that libraries can buy for $150. It's a very simple reader. I think it might even still be e-ink. Libraries can buy hundreds of them. They're completely empty. They'll loan them out to you, with your library card, and you go to the 3M cloud, you download all the books you want to read, and you have a device to read them on. When you return it to the library, they press some magic button and poof, all the content disappears from the device and it's reused again. The last thing they have is this "discovery station," it's called. Remember how I said before that 58 to 63% of our users have no idea we have e-books, because you can't see them when you walk in the library? Well, they're trying to change that, they have these discovery stations, and they don't look just like this anymore. Right now they're huge, they're as big as this screen. There are touch screens right on the wall that display book covers. Patrons can go up and touch the book covers, and read the book jacket, and say: "I want to download that one!" They put it right into their cloud account right there, then they go home and download it, and put it on their device. This is really helping with discovery. They were the first to have this, and all the other companies are now trying to do the same thing.
Freading

<figure><img src="image_36.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 29</figcaption></figure>

They are completely different. It is what is called a pay-as-you-go kind of program. Libraries put a deposit amount of money into their accounts, and they purchase tokens. Their tokens are different prices. They might be 50c, $1 or 2$. 50c will allow you to borrow an e-book that might be 10 years old, or 5, or maybe even 2 years old. But if you want an e-book from 12 months ago, that one is going to cost you $1. And if you want one from 1 or 5 months ago, it's going to cost you $2. So you need these different tokens, and what libraries do, then, is they say to patrons, "you've got 50 tokens for the year, so you can read 25 brand new books, or you can read however many really old books." That's what makes them very unique... But none of the Big Six sell the books. And this is what happens: innovative companies that show up and try something different, have to start down here, and find the publishers that are willing to work with them. It takes years to get the content that the public library users really want, and that is the Big Six content.
Odilo

<figure><img src="image_37.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 30</figcaption></figure>

They are from Spain and Latin America. What makes them unique is that they took that 3M mentality and said “We’re going to let you, libraries, negotiate directly with the publishers, we’re going to try to stay out of it. We have an interface that you can use for your books, but we want you to go and negotiate with the publisher, who had already agreed to let me put their books on here for you, on your behalf.”

So libraries can negotiate with publishers and authors to try and get better prices. But they still have them on this interface, this platform. And they can put content on that has DRM as well as free things in the public domain. They support library ownership of content, which is really important to public libraries in the U.S. I will talk a little bit more about that later.
What kind of DRM systems do all these companies offer to libraries?

The majority of them use the Adobe DRM system, because these companies host their books on an Adobe content server.

## Total Boox

<figure><img src="image_38.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 31</figcaption></figure>

Total Boox launched in 2014, and they are based in Israel. This is, again, completely different.

They're only asking libraries to pay for the pages actually read. So you can download 20 books onto your device and the library doesn't pay a thing until you start reading. And once you read, if you read 10 pages of the book, there is a fee exchanged. I have no idea how they do this, no idea at all. And the book never expires. If you download it, it's always there. Whereas the rest of these vendors, there's a limited time period when the library
user can have the book. It's usually 7, 14 or 21 days. You can keep
these forever. And every time you go in and read, every time, if
you decide you love page 46 of that science-fiction novel, and
you read it every day, that public library will pay for you to read
page 46 every single day! So how do you budget for that? That's
what makes this hard to accept. That's what makes the token sys-
tem really hard to accept. How in the heck do you decide how
much money to put towards this?

They're all new, they're all trying things different, which we like. We like innovation, we like startup companies. They stir the pot and they get everybody thinking about how we can do things differently.

<figure><img src="image_39.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 32</figcaption></figure>

I have talked about these a lot. The Big Six. Do these names look familiar to all of you?

These are our primary publishers of trade fiction in the U.S. They're
on this list in this order for a reason. This is the order in which they
began selling or leasing e-books to public libraries, through the
third-party vendors. None of these people will let a library nego-
tiate with them directly. You have to work through a third-party,
but this is the order in which it happened. So bless you, Hachette,
for getting onboard really quickly. HarperCollins was first. It
doesn't mean they're not a problem. I'll tell you about the problem
with some of these later, but this is the order in which they joined.

<figure><img src="image_40.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 33</figcaption></figure>

There was a huge merger last year, maybe 18 months ago. Penguin
and Random House merged. This orange box reflects their size,
compared to everyone else. They have a huge assortment of titles
there, so it's a huge market share that they have compared to the
other four. As far as e-books are concerned, we still call them
the Big Six, not the Big Five, because even Penguin and Random
House have completely different terms for licensing books. They
haven't copied each other, they haven't found a middle ground,
they're completely different.
<figure><img src="image_41.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 34</figcaption></figure>

This is when they eachstarted to come on board. OverDrive was 2003, so HarperCollins was on board immediately, as was Hachette with their U.S. book catalogue. 2008, we added two more. We have a red line there, because it was only OverDrive. So those four publishers started working with OverDrive before the other competitors even came on board. OverDrive has four of the Six already. In 2011 we launched all these new e-book distribution companies. HarperCollins and Random House got on board right away. The others were very stubborn, and it took much nego- tiation to get them on board and to get them to sell to libraries. Simon & Schuster, Macmillan and Hachette just recently signed on with others, just this year. It took a long time. Penguin is inter- resting, because, see how they're there in 2008 with a little start after them? They worked with OverDrive for quite some time, and everybody was happy. And then a little thing came along called Amazon. It made Penguin very unhappy. They said: "OverDrive, we don't like what you're doing with Amazon, so guess what,
we're not selling you our titles anymore.” And they stopped. They let people keep what they had, but they wouldn't sell them anything else, so they pulled. Now they're back. Now all Six are in. Does it mean we can still buy 100% of their collection? Probably not. There are restrictions for pretty much any publisher out there. There's just certain titles they don't sell.

*What is the difference between Hachette's first appearance on this market and their second one?*

The first one is when they were with OverDrive. It wasn't until 2014 that they agreed to sell to the other vendors. It took them that long to agree to have a relationship with those other vendors that I talked about.

<figure><img src="image_42.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 35</figcaption></figure>

You're probably wondering why this says “The first blow.” I'm doing a loose metaphor here of boxing.

Something horrible happened to libraries back in 2011. HarperCollins started out wonderful. They jumped on board, they
had a relationship with OverDrive right from the beginning, but
around 2011, all these other vendors were coming out, Amazon
had just sky-rocketed, their market share was outrageous. So
many things were happening. They looked at the rise e-book
users and e-book and tablet owners, and all the publishers star-
ted to get pretty scared. They were really scared about losing
all their revenue. Because hardbound books, which is what most
U.S. readers were buying, were $25. E-books were $9.99. There's
a big difference there. They started to get nervous, and they kind
of said: "Libraries, we're going to change our policy."

And out of the blue came an announcement, that effective here
in February 2011, you can only lend out our books 26 times. On
the 27th time, you have to buy it again, you have to pay for access
again. You can imagine the reaction of libraries. We hit the roof.
We absolutely blew up. The response was outrageous. Librarians
immediately started a website called "Boycott HarperCollins."
And many libraries did, signing on to boycott them in E and
P formats. Over time, we got used to this change. People kind of
stopped complaining because guess what, when your user comes
in and says: "I want that HarperCollins title," you want to give
it to them. You want to be able to satisfy your users' needs. And
boycotting a large company with trade books, it wasn't helping
us serve our populations. So little by little, we kind of got used
to the idea of 26 loans. As a result of this, the American Library
Association stepped up their advocacy efforts. And because of
that, we are where we are now, we've got all six on board because
the Association started being proactive.

Why 26 loans?

I don't know why they chose that number instead of 27, or 25.

I'm thinking because there's 52 weeks in a year, that's why
they chose 26, figuring a two-week loan period. There's pro-
bably a method to their logic here.
However, they didn't do such a good job picking that number. Because the New York Public Library, in February 2012, had 5,000 HarperCollins e-book titles. Guess how many of them reached the 26 limit. None of them. They chose this number, in hopes of getting libraries to have to buy, and nobody is hitting the limit, which is really interesting. I think it will come, because they don't have a time period limit. But that was our first big wake up call. We said: "Wow, this isn't working out for us. We'd better start asking questions."

My picture here says: "Are we still boycotting HarperCollins?" No. Everybody's over it now, we're all done boycotting, because they're on board now, and they're selling with all the vendors. They're still selling with the 26 limit, but we realized, after our second and our third blows, that it wasn't so bad.

<figure><img src="image_43.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 36</figcaption></figure>

Same year, 2011, just a shy six months later, this is when OverDrive announced "We finally got your Kindle format." People have been
begging for Kindle Format forever, because the majority of their
users had Kindle devices. So they announced: "We have an agree-
ment with Amazon."

We were thrilled, the users were thrilled, until we read the
smallprint, and until we went in and actually did the process.
Because what happened was, you went into your digital library,
which is the OverDrive interface, and you went and chose the
Kindle format. You were at the public library's site, you were
using your public library card. You clicked on the Kindle format,
and guess where you went... You went to Amazon, and you were
forced to download your title from Amazon's site. Once again, we
hit the roof. We started shouting "Privacy! Patron privacy! This
is an outrage! How can you make someone come to your site!"
We're mixing public non-profits with a for-profit big company
over here that has a "Buy" button right next to the "Download"
button. There were just so many things that went against our
beliefs and it was a big problem for us.

OverDrive released a statement when this came out. They said
that third-parties, aka Amazon, may require visitors to use an
email address to access their content, because obviously you had
to have an Amazon account to get the content, so you had to
establish an account using an email address. It didn't have to be
you, you could make one up, but you still had to have an email
address. But it said "The visitor's name, address, and other iden-
tifying information are not required." You could go in using an
alias, for all they cared, it was completely anonymous, but did
most people do that? No, they used their Amazon account that
they already had established, because it was easy. So now, public
libraries send their patrons to Amazon for OverDrive titles, and
guess who's collecting all of that data? Amazon. They're collec-
ting it, and they know what everyone is downloading. So every
time that you log in, they're going to start pumping you with
advertising for those titles that you like. And that's another thing
that libraries were opposed to, advertising. So "26" didn't seem so
bad when this happened.

<figure><img src="image_44.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 37</figcaption></figure>

Then something else happened. It was Random House this time. They decided libraries aren't paying enough money. A consumer, an individual person, can go to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, wherever, and buy a book for $9.99. We always charge libraries a little bit more, maybe $20, $30, $40. But now we're going to triple it, or we're going to increase it by 150%. A book that a library used to be able to lease for $25, $30, $40, was now $120.

We hit the roof again. Our heads can only take so much. This was in
March of 2012. We're not totally over it. It's costing us more money
to provide access to electronic books. We pay more here, but there's
no crazy "26" rule, we can use it indefinitely. But we are paying
more. They're not the only ones. The news traveled to France.
Hachette picked up on it, and now they do premium pricing as well.
<figure><img src="image_45.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 38</figcaption></figure>

Here's where we stand now.

In 2014, we got all six of them to work with us. Hallelujah, we made it happen. It happened at a price and with restrictions, but it happened. HarperCollins is still at 26, no time period. Hachette has premium library pricing. Random House too. Penguin has a one year license. After 12 months and 1 day, you have to lease the title and pay for it again. Macmillan: 52 circulations in a 2 year period. And Simon & Schuster have a one year license, but they mandate that public libraries put a “Buy” button next to the “Download” button.

These are the things we are agreeing to in order to lend books to our users. It's a mixed bag of tricks. In some ways, it's completely insulting, it goes against so many things we stand for and believe in. But in other ways this is our goal, to serve our users. And our users come in demanding the top titles from these publishers, and we want to be able to provide for them.
*What defined the conditions for print book loans?*

There were no conditions, because there was no license agree-
ment. When we buy a print book, just like you do, you give your
money, you walk away with it, it's yours. You own it. You don't
own any of these e-books. There has to be a contract behind
every single one, which is where all these crazy rules get esta-
blished. There are no restrictions on the print.

In the U.S. we call that the right of first sale. You exchange
money for a book, for a physical object, it's yours. You own it.
You can rip it in half, you can give it to a friend, you can donate
it to a library, resell it, that is your right of first sale. That right
of first sale does not transfer well to digital things, because of
that license agreement.

[...] This may have been about premium pricing.

I have a visual that will show you that later, but what that means
is that an e-book license that used to cost us $30, now just went
to up $120 or $150. By some percent, it increased, because the
publisher wanted to charge you more money up front, to get more
money from you, and then give you no restrictions on how often
you downloaded it.

So like I said, it's a mixed bag of tricks.

[...] have defined a license on the same models. All of the three
have chosen one of these. Hachette has premium library pricing.
One of them have chosen the Penguin model, one year license.
And others have premium pricing.

Congratulations, we're in this together!

Advocacy Initiatives

So as I said, everything happens for a reason. All of these
things happened, we were upset, we screamed, we hollered, we
eventually gave in, we accepted, we're moving on because of our
users. It's all on behalf of our users. But as a result, good things
did come.

We woke up. The American Library Association woke up, and
they said: “We can’t let these kind of things happen to our libra-
ries. We need to help, we need to speak out, to be proactive and
to negotiate with publishers on behalf of all of our libraries. We
need to come up with alternatives.” So we started organizing. It
wasn’t an umbrella revolution, but it was something.

<figure><img src="image_46.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 39</figcaption></figure>

What ALA did first was they established this group called the
Digital Content Working Group.

It was made up of representatives from all library types from
all across the U.S. I think they may have even had some non-
library representation on this. They were formed in July of 2011,
which was very strategically after that “26” rule announcement.
Basically, what they’re there to do is advise libraries, to analyze
data and statistics, analyze the industry, advocate for libraries, speak on our behalf, to educate us as libraries, to educate the population as to how libraries are being treated, share information across the world so that other people understand what's happening, so you can be prepared if and should it happen to you.

They have published a couple of very good reports as a result of their work. One of them is called “E-book Business Models for Public Libraries” and it looks at all the different business models and describes them in great detail. Because business models are complicated and if it’s not something you’re heavily involved with on a daily basis it can be completely overwhelming.

Then they released something called a scorecard. It was an opportunity for libraries to apply a point-value system to vendors based on some overall ratings. You give them a score, you rate the vendor, and then you choose who you want to work with.

They also have a variety of publications. I brought a couple. It's called the “E-content Supplement.” American Libraries is our magazine and it comes out once or twice a month and these are supplements. They come out twice a year, once for our conference in January, once for our conference in June, and they distribute these freely. What's in here are really good articles about the digital content situation. They are written by public librarians, by publishers and distributors to educate everybody on what is going on. These are electronic as well, so you can go and grab any of these articles and read them. I think this URL that I have up here will take you to the page where the links are to all these different things.
<figure><img src="image_47.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 40</figcaption></figure>

These are all of the criteria in that scorecard that they produced. They wanted libraries to give a rating to each vendor and publisher.

For example: Are you replicating the print title exactly? Are you including all of your titles or just some? Can you lend them indefinitely, or do you have a time period, a circulation limit? Is there a premium for access? Is there an embargo period, or delayed sale? They wanted libraries to be able to look at and examine before they made a choice on who they would work with. This URL will take you to the report in detail with all these criteria described. It's a pretty simple system, but what I like about it is it makes you think about every possible thing that could be going on with these e-book licenses. It makes you really appreciate how easy it is to go and put money on a bookstore desk, take a book and walk out.
<figure><img src="image_48.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 41</figcaption></figure>

Another group that has formed, maybe this year or last year, is called ReadersFirst. It's a movement, I should say. Yes, they have an official organization, and people running it, but it's a movement to improve e-book access and services for public library users. They're going worldwide, and there is one member here in France, the minister of Culture and Communication. You can sign on and be a member, it doesn't cost anything. You're essentially saying "I agree with you, I want to be part of this movement, I appreciate what you're trying to do."

They have four key principles:

1. To enhance the library e-book reading experience, allowing readers to search one, comprehensive catalog to access all library offerings. The online catalog, they want users to be able to go there and search for their print books, their audio books and their e-books from OverDrive, from
Baker & Taylor, from 3M, from Freading, from anybody that they're getting them from. They want them all in one place.

2. To place holds, to check out or renew items, to view what's available and what's not available, to be able to manage your fines, to be able to communicate with the library, as far as how many loans you have left, etc. They want this to be a single source that the library thinks is best, not that the vendor thinks is best.

3. Seamlessly enjoy a variety of e-content. Give us as much content in as many formats as possible.

4. To download e-books that are compatible with all reading devices. And we know that one is not happening right now, considering what I told you earlier about Kindle downloads.

<figure><img src="image_49.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 42</figcaption></figure>

They produced a report called “The ReadersFirst guide to library e-book vendors.” What this report did, they looked at all the vendors that provide e-books to public libraries. The ones I talked
about, and others, because there are others. EBSCO, Ingram, etc. They also sell books to public libraries, but I did not include them, because they started as academic, then they went to school libraries, and now they're getting agreements with these trade publishers. I included the ones that were there first.

<figure><img src="image_50.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 43</figcaption></figure>

What they did then in the report, is they came up with an actual evaluation chart. The idea is: the blue lines are major categories. What's underneath them are criteria.

In the general terms, can your interface do this? Can it do that? Can it jump up and down, pat its head and rub its stomach at the same time? It's got all these crazy criteria. You assign a point value to it, you give it a score. It's like a 4-5 page evaluation form. And at the end of it you get a score, and you can say "You scored a 98. And you, sorry, you only scored a 50." And you can actually see, side by side, what vendors have available. And I will tell you that I used this. In fact, I've adapted this. We asked for permission
to change it, because it's set up for public libraries, and I'm in
an academic library. We don't download and check out books in
academic libraries. We buy most of our content for unlimited use.
So you can't rate somebody that sells you something unlimited
against someone that gives you 26 loans. It's apples and oranges...

I'm in Ohio, our academic libraries are part of a group called OhioLINK, it's a consortium. We looked at this at the OhioLINK level, we said "What's important to us, from an e-book vendor?" We took their categories, we changed things around, we added things that weren't here, we removed things that weren't necessary, and did all kinds of things to it. Then we evaluated the five vendors that OhioLINK buys from. It was a very interesting process. The one that scored the highest for us was Ebrary. They had the most features that we thought were valuable.

Four of our five vendors got a big whopping zero in three categories, because they have a great business model. They sell unlimited and they don't need a checkout system or a hold system. There's no limits on what you can lend. They don't have that part of the system developed because they don't need it, they don't sell books like that. But we still rated them that way, because we thought we can't guarantee anything. We can't guarantee that five years from now, they're not going to come back to us and say "Sorry! We can't sell unlimited anymore, we can only sell you a copy with 26 loans." We wanted to be able to evaluate them now, on what features they have and don't have, and actually be able to say, when we go to negotiate, "We need this business model, because you can't support these others." And if they come back to us with these others, we say: "No, you can't support it." Very interesting results. If you would like a copy of how we adapted it, I am happy to send that, and you can distribute that.
<figure><img src="image_51.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 44</figcaption></figure>

Another campaign that got together back in 2013 was started by the ALA. It's called Authors for Library E-books.

It's one of those things for authors to be able to show their support to libraries. It's a cause and we're asking authors to go to this website and sign on, and commit themselves to supporting library lending of e-books. They have a really lovely picture of every author up there. When I very first looked at this, I think they had 9 authors. Now they have 66. They don't do a lot as a group because this is a cause. You can download this button, put it on your website or your blog, which I do have. It's just a nice thing, and it shows that the authors really care and respect libraries too.
<figure><img src="image_52.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 45</figcaption></figure>

You might actually know some of the following because you had
a wonderful conference here a couple months ago.

IFLA is obviously taking a stand on this as well and saying: "We
have principles too. We want to make sure you uphold these
principles internationally. This isn't all about one country, or two
countries. Everybody wants this." We want the right to license
and purchase any commercially available e-book. Don't prevent
us from buying things, yet they still do. Libraries can't license
textbooks, for example. We want to be able to access these under
reasonable terms and fair price. We want you to respect copy-
right limitations and the exceptions that libraries have with
print books.

Currently, there aren't many people that respect those. I'll talk
about that in a moment. We want content to be platform neutral,
we want standards and we want e-books accessible. We want to
ensure that 50, 100, 200, 500 years from now we still have access
to the books. We can't guarantee that yet. We want to protect the privacy of our users too. These are all extremely relevant principles. I hope we can get to them some day.

<figure><img src="image_53.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 46</figcaption></figure>

I want to mention this last group but they're not necessarily an advocacy group.

They do some fabulous surveys. It's the Pew Research Center. They have a project called the Internet & American Life Project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This part of their project does surveys all the time about libraries and how the public interacts with libraries. Some of the data I showed you earlier came from Pew. I tell you about them because they have amazing data for U.S. libraries. I don't know that they do too much internationally, but maybe there's someone here that does something similar. If not, maybe you can send some of these reports to and organization here in France and ask if they can do something similar. The two reports that have really been
instrumental in the past few years are “The rise of e-reading”,
and “Library services in the digital age.” Those have been great
reports. I use them all the time for data and quotes.

*My question is about memories, or preservation. In fact, in all the cases, with all licenses offered to public libraries, is there something about preservation? Not lending models, but preservation for future generations? Because for print books, public libraries are major actors in building memories. Do they have the same role for electronic books?*

I can't answer your question by saying Yes or No that they do
or they don't, because I'd have to read every contract, which I
don't have access to. It's a problem. I'll talk about it in this next
section on challenges. It's a challenge we have yet to address. I
don't know that any of our vendors can say they can guarantee
access to the digital content however many years away. There
are programs in place, and I'll talk about that in a moment, but
it's not there yet.
Challenges for libraries

<figure><img src="image_54.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 47</figcaption></figure>

One of our biggest challenges, and thank goodness it's kind of solving itself with the Big Six coming, is content not available.

Libraries can't pay to get access to the titles. In one of the Pew Research Center results, they asked Americans aged 16 and older who borrowed an e-book from their library, “Have you ever wanted to borrow a particular e-book from the public library and found that” a) It was not compatible with your reader, of which 80% said no, which tells you what kind of device they probably have. b) Did you find there was a waiting list? Or c) Did you find the library did not carry it? 56% said “I found that my library didn’t have it.” I hope that these numbers move in a more positive way now that many of the publishers are on board.
<figure><img src="image_55.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 48</figcaption></figure>

This next slide shows an example from academic libraries. I'm from an academic library.

This is a vendor that we use, called YBP. We buy print books from them, and we negotiate licenses for e-books through them. One of the gentlemen that works there sent me this chart. He left all the names off of the publishers, and the aggregators, which are distributors, but this gives you an example.

Let's say publisher X and publisher Y came out with 2,100 and 3,100 new titles this year. Well, if you go to their platform and want to get an e-book, look how many you get. 600 of 2,100. 900 of 3,100. That's not all of them. So you can't license the books from the publishers.

If you want to go to EBSCO, or Ebrary, or EBL, or Ingram and try and license that book you may find that each vendor has different titles and none of the lists match. So that means they're
sayting. “You four, you can have these 60 of my books. And you five back there, you can have these 300. And the four of you, I’m going to give you 400, and the rest of you here I’m going to give you everything.” It’s all over the place and nothing is consistent between vendors. This is hard on us when we’re trying to decide which vendor to use because we need to know that they have the content that we need.

<figure><img src="image_56.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 49</figcaption></figure>

This addresses the previous question about premium pricing. There's a library in Colorado called Douglas County. I have a lot more to say about them soon. Every month, they publish this document that you can get online that tells what they paid for a print book and an e-book versus what consumers pay at the consumer level. Looking at a fiction book called *The Collector*, library pricing for it was $15, and $25, on Amazon, you can get it for $16. Barnes & Noble I think is $16. I'm thinking that's for the print one. For the e-book, if you buy it from OverDrive, it's
$17, same from 3M, but through Amazon, it is $12, and Barnes & Nobles is $11. But you can see number 4, NYPD Red #2, the price on OverDrive is $84. That's premium pricing. On 3M it's $84, but you can buy from Amazon for $8.99.

They release this every month just to put pricing in perspective so that people really understand what we're paying.

<figure><img src="image_57.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 50</figcaption></figure>

This is a chart that I created to show you that every time we sign one of those license agreements we sit on this line somewhere.

If you look over to the left, these are things that are open and freely available to anybody such as the things in the public domain. If you were to go to Project Gutenberg, you could access 36,000 or 38,000 freely available classic novels, primarily in English. Have at it, take as much as you want. It's public domain and no one owns it. You can put it in your library catalog, you can download all of them. The lock is wide open, there's no DRM on these titles. But as you move further and further to the right, you see that the
lock is locked. That's all the DRM surrounding those titles. These
are the titles that we pay a price to rent or lease. There's token
books, there's a model called short term loan, where you pay 10
or 15% of the list cost, so that you can read the book for 10 days.
After the 10 days are up, the book disappears, you no longer have
access, and I have spend $15 and that money's gone and I have
nothing to permanently show for it. That's short term. There's a
lot of DRM there and there's a lot of risk there. Risk that you'll
never see the content again. That's the difference, the spectrum
showing where you are.

<figure><img src="image_58.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 51</figcaption></figure>

Most public libraries in the U.S. are right there [in the middle]
when they license titles. All those vendors I just talked about,
they have some kind of limit on circulation or limit on licensing
terms. If not, the ones with the premium pricing own with perpetual access, they're in that section. Whether or not you have fees upfront or ongoing, that depends on the vendor, but that's where
they are. So the further to the right you go, the more DRM, and
the higher the risk that you won't have that book.

<figure><img src="image_59.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 52</figcaption></figure>

I mentioned there were some rights that we signed away. I talked
about the right of first sale in the U.S. already, I wanted to men-
tion copyright and interlibrary loan. Because with print books it's
in the U.S. copyright law that libraries can lend to other libraries.
It is our right to be able to do that. Every time we sign a license
agreement with one of these e-book companies we essentially
sign that right away.

Why? Are we crazy? We do it because we want the content
that our users need. It's all about making sure our users have
what they want. It puts us in a very awkward situation because
when we sign that agreement we lose the right to loan material.
We release content, not own it, and we have these limits on it. It's a
very difficult situation. It's an ongoing challenge.
<figure><img src="image_60.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 53</figcaption></figure>

Another challenge: I just told you about six different e-book vendors. I mentioned there's probably 20, 30, or more publishers you can buy from. If you worked with every single one of them, that's a whole lot of interfaces for you to use and understand. How many databases do you have access to, through your libraries? Hundreds, right? How many are in a different interface? Hundreds, yeah. It's the same thing with e-books. Is there one place where we can go and find all of it? We'd love for that to be the online catalog.

We're getting there. We want to be able to put all those titles into our integrated library system. We want to be able to have our print and electronic statistics all in the same place, so that we can look at one user account, for all the different formats. For each platform the data available depends on who you're working with, on what device you can use, and on what format you can download. Everybody's different. If you work public service in a
library these are questions you have to answer every dayfor users
who are downloading a book for the very first time and they don't
know how to do it. And they're thoroughly confused as to why
it takes 21 different steps to download their first e-book. That's
what it takes the very first time – 21 steps. After that it's a little
easier. They all have different kinds of DRM too. It's not just ven-
dors establishing these rules, it is also publishers. If I buy books
from you, you might let me print 60 pages. But over here you're
a little more restrictive. You only let me print 30 pages. So I'm in
the same interface, I've got book A and book B, and I can't even
print the same amount from them. What do our users think? I
feel so sorry for them. It's bad enough for us to figure it out.

<figure><img src="image_61.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 54</figcaption></figure>

So training, troubleshooting – they’re ongoing challenges for us
as is archiving and perpetual access. At this point we can’t gua-
rantee access to any of these e-books in the future because we
haven’t decided yet whose responsibility this is. Libraries don’t
own the books, so we can't do it. The third parties, like OverDrive, do they own the books? No. They can't do it either.

Who owns the book? 99% of the time it's the publishers. They're the ones that hold copyright. They have the right to owning the copyright on that book, so they have to make sure it's preserved. If we did it, we would be breaking our license agreement. So are they doing it? Some are, some aren't. Third-party vendors have got contracts with all these libraries, but they've also got contracts with all these publishers. So when they're negotiating the publisher contracts, they're starting to address these kind of things in here. I know EBSCO is definitely in that direction. There is also Portico, LOCKSS and LOCKSS, organizations that do some type preservation. Some of them are dark archives which means you can't use the content unless there is a trigger event. What's the trigger event? Is it when the server blows up? Is it an actual disaster? Is it the fact that a company is for sale and nobody buys them? Libraries are left with content in limbo. What is it going cost to do this? And who's going to end up paying for it? We all know that answer, don't we? Libraries will pay for it in the cost of the book. That's the only thing I can guarantee.
<figure><img src="image_62.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 55</figcaption></figure>

Self-publishing is another challenge for us. Are any of you self-published authors? Nobody has clicked that magic button yet to self-publish? It's pretty easy. The hard part is writing the book, right? That's the hard part because as soon as you have it in Word or PDF or whatever version, all you have to do is go to one of these sites click a couple buttons, put in a little bit of information, and press that magic button. It says “Upload”, and boom you’re published. Simple as that, right? There’s tons of choices out there, absolutely tons of them. Can libraries buy any of these? Do they want to, first of all? Is there anything good out there? If there is something good out there how do we find out about it? Because we have to go out there and buy them ourselves, review them, or we have to get a group of people together willing to review them, to bring the best to the top. Something has got to happen here. This is just a can of worms, self-publishing.
<figure><img src="image_63.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 56 – Royalty rates for self-publishers</figcaption></figure>

Here's why people like it. First of all, most of the people that self-publish have gotten so many rejection letters that they've given up trying with the traditional publisher. But maybe they do it because they want more royalties. Up here is traditional publisher, in the top left. The author gets a whopping 12% royalty rate if they're lucky. Most of the time you start at 10%. But if you go to Scribd, you get 80%. You're probably not going to sell as many because you're just one in a million titles ready to be discovered. Kindle gives the author 75%. Smashwords is 85%. So do you want to publish for the traditional publisher and get 10 or 12%? Or would you rather take your chances. This is extremely appealing to some authors. They want the opportunity to try and market themselves and potentially make a higher royalty rate. One of the problems is what libraries do with that. We're kind of stuck.
There are options opening up for us. Smashwords, if you've not heard of them, are trying to pick out the best titles for libraries. The things that are getting the most sales and those getting good reviews, they will sell them as a package to a library. 3M is one of the vendors that works with Smashwords and I think there are others but I can't remember who else does it. We can't buy from Kindle. I don't know that Scribd or anybody else is on board at this time. But if more and more people start self-publishing, how will libraries, as you say, keep the memories? We don't have a way.

<figure><img src="image_64.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 57</figcaption></figure>

Another big challenge for us is the new subscription services that are coming out. This is not just a challenge for me, it's quite a threat actually. We talked about this at lunch. The people that have money are probably going to have their own private libraries because they can afford to subscribe for $10 a month to Kindle, and $9 to Scribd, and $10 to Oyster. You can have access to all kinds of content out there and never ever need to go to the
public library again. That's a shame. But the people that don't
have the money to do that, we can still help them and provide for
them but more and more people could switch over to this model
and not use their public libraries, which is really disappointing.
And the sad thing is, if they really looked at it closely, if they loo-
ked at what they pay in their taxes in their local community, it is
probably less than $10 a month to have access to all those library
materials. These people are looking at convenience and access
and don't want to ask, "What can I get right now?" People are
willing to pay premium prices for access.

*Is it a real competition for library service?*

It's not really a competition for library service, it's a compe-
tition for library content. We've got the service nailed. Who
can compete with us when it comes to service? But as far as
being able to access content, this is definitely a competition for
people who are willing to spend that kind of money. But as I
said, if they stopped and did the math, they would realize that
public library is a lot cheaper.
New Strategies

<figure><img src="image_65.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 58</figcaption></figure>

So what are we going to do about it? We have some new strategies, and all of these libraries [on the slide] are doing something interesting and innovative. These are all different consortiums or individual libraries. There are public and academic libraries in the U.S. that are trying things different.
<figure><img src="image_66.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 59</figcaption></figure>

I mentioned Douglas County, that library in Colorado. They're a very big deal. They've done something truly innovative. It has caught on, and people love it and want to model it. This is why we have the name "the Douglas County Model." What they did is they built their own e-book hosting system. They went out and bought themselves an Adobe content server. They said "If EBSCO or Ingram can do it, why can't we? Why can't we have our own server and host our own books?" It only cost $10,000 for an Adobe content server. Then they had to do some other tech stuff and I'm not an expert in this technology so it is hard for me to explain. If you want to read all the details, you can go to this article that breaks it down. And I have a list of other articles too.

The Douglas County Model has the Adobe content server so that they can go to publishers directly and say "Can we buy books from you? We want to own them. We agree to put DRM on them. We'll put them on our Adobe content server if you will sell them to us and let us own them."
VuFind is an open-source software that is the interface that
allows the users to interact with the content.

MySQL is an open-source storage area for content that doesn't need DRM. Project Gutenberg titles can go here. If an author comes into the library and says "I want to donate my e-book to you", it can go there if they want.

SOLR is a search engine. It's an open-source indexing server that allows this interface to interact with the content and bring it forward.

They're extremely successful. I think it cost them $100,000 to build this. Three parts of it are open-source which people constantly contribute to. The Adobe content server is a one-time upfront payment and then you pay a small fee for every transaction. This option may be a lot cheaper than the access fees for the other vendors.

<figure><img src="image_67.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 60</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="image_68.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 62</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_69.png" /></figure>
Other states are catching on, saying “I want to do that too.” California built a product called ENKI, based just on the Douglas County Model. They took it and duplicated it, maybe improved upon it. They’re going direct to publishers, they’re buying content, and they’re hosting it themselves. They own their content, they do not lease it, there are no 26, or 52 loan rules here. They don’t have many titles though. 22,000 titles is no comparison to nearly 2 million at OverDrive, but they’re just starting. 75 libraries in California, and the State Library of Kansas, which we mentioned earlier, are all part of this.

<figure><img src="image_70.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 63</figcaption></figure>

In Connecticut, they published a report, the “Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection report” and eventually passed a law authorizing the Connecticut State Library to build a platform to share e-books. So they’re getting legislative support to move forward on a project like this because people understand that libraries are in an unfair situation.
<figure><img src="image_71.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 64</figcaption></figure>

Libraries are also taking it a step further. Now that we can host the books ourselves, why don't we help you publish too? We're a service-oriented group, we have thousands of members of our community we are extremely smart and talented. They may be authors, they may be editors, they may be artists. If we get them all together, and share our knowledge, can we, as a community, come together at our public library and publish content together? And guess who's doing it? Douglas County. As soon as they started that hosting, that was their next step, "Let's help people publish." So they will host your content for you, they'll support and help train, they'll get you connected to a community, to share and work on things. And when you're all done, your project's there, they'll host the content for you.
<figure><img src="image_72.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 65</figcaption></figure>

There are good things that are happening. There's a lot of fun things. This isn't the end of it. We're going to keep on going. I'll give you these slides. This entire host-your-own concept, and libraries as publishers, they're all discussed quite a bit in these sites up here so when you get the items from this presentation you'll be able to read some of those articles. It's fascinating. It's very innovative.
<figure><img src="image_73.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 66</figcaption></figure>

These are blogs that I use to keep up on what is going on with e-books. It is predominantly U.S.-centric. They'll do some international type reports and things every once in a while, but it's predominantly U.S.
<figure><img src="image_74.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 67</figcaption></figure>

This is my blog, *No Shelf Required*. I don't blog as much as I used to, but every week I have a colleague of mine who goes through Twitter and pulls anything that is library-related and puts it on my blog in a kind of weekly digest. We'll get some other content up there too. I just try and put up what is going on, newsy things, what's going on in the industry with libraries, etc. So you're welcome to visit there, to get an RSS feed, Twitter: @noshelfrequired.

Feel free to read the books. I read some of them the other day, and I thought “Are these really getting dated?” Yeah, you know, some of the stories are a little dated, but a lot of it isn’t, and is still pretty good, and explains some of the history in how things started. In fact I used several chapters to help me prepare for today, to get some of my dates straight and remember the stories, things that went on.

You're welcome to ask me questions afterwards, whatever you'd like. That's our story, that's what happening in the U.S.
It's sometimes crazy, sometimes wonderful. One thing I can say for sure is that there's never a dull moment. Things change constantly, and it's a race to keep up. I hope that was interesting and the right kind of information to give you a snapshot of what's happening. I look forward to seeing what happens here.

Thank you.

## Discussion

### What about book shops?

What are those? Our large chains are going away. Lots of them are going away. We call them brick and mortar stores. The chains are decreasing every year. What is interesting is the smaller, independent shops saw a decrease but they are stable now, and in some cases there's just a slight increase. We talked about that at lunch, and said "Why is that?" I think it's the localized service that an independent bookstore can provide to their community. Because they do more than sell books now.

### On print, are there links between libraries and bookstores? Do bookstores sell to libraries?

Yes, some of our libraries work with their local bookstores to get some of the content. Sadly, a lot of our libraries use Amazon. My library buys several titles from Amazon, when we need a rush order. In Dayton, Ohio, where I'm from, we have a local bookstore. We're an academic library, we primarily buy the extremely boring scholarly titles, but we like to give the students something interesting to read if they just need a break from academics. So we'll go to that local bookstore and they'll pick out 50 recent titles for us and we'll buy it from them. Public libraries probably have other relationships too but the majority of our public libraries get their print and electronic books from a larger, national distributor.
*On those millions of books, do you have statistics on what is
leading in public libraries?*

I do not have any with me, but each of those vendors will
release the top 10, 20, 30 titles this month, this year. They'll
give you statistics on what are the best titles. And at an indi-
vidual library level, absolutely. They are tracking that, because
they are determining how many copies to lease.

*What about apps in libraries?*

We can't do a thing with apps. We can't buy them, we can't
download them. The only thing we can do is buy devices, pre-
load the apps, and lend the devices. What libraries are start-
ing to do, particularly children libraries, they're starting to
get together groups of librarians to review children's apps. So
that's they're at least providing a service for parents to make
wise decisions on content.

*Do you see Google and Apple have a strategy?*

I don't see a strategy yet for libraries and apps, because it's all
based on an individual consumer with an online account and
a credit card attached, licensing that app. And there's just not
a way for organizations to do that too much. I know that Apple
does have a school-wide purchasing program, and they'll offer
perhaps a discount, or they'll offer a way for a school to buy
50 copies of the same app for their 50 iPads. So there are some
small programs for that, but they're mainly used to put on a
device that's in the library, that the students are using. And I
think Kindle has a program too, it's been a long time since I've
thought about those. A program where libraries can buy things
in a bulk way for devices, or other things.

*And what about ePub in libraries?*

I think it's a fabulous thing if it catches on. I think it's going
to get here. I love ePub. What I've heard about it is that many
of the publishers that implement it aren't doing the full imple-
mentation and really taking advantage of the features it offers,
particularly when it comes to accessibility. It's a shame because
that is one of the major advantages of ePub, the accessibility is
built in. If the publishers ignore that, then what's the use? But
more and more publishers are adopting ePub. I think it's either
Baker & Taylor or EBSCO, that said they would have ePub titles
coming soon.

*Is lending an e-book in a library only an online service? I think it's not, and if it is not, why do people go to the library to find an e-book, and what kind of services do they find on site?*

The lending of the e-books and the audiobooks is a primarily
online service for most public libraries. They do offer those
discovery terminals in the libraries. It's a way to market the
e-books to the people that are physically still coming. There
are ways to borrow the books on the discovery terminals and
download them later. People can come and at least browse
through the e-books that are available, but at some point, they
have to go online to interact with the content and download it,
so it does automatically, by default, become an online service.
I was saying at lunch that libraries are lending all kinds of
things. Not just books anymore. They're lending any kind of
format of media they're having available. But they're really
getting close to their communities and finding out "What is
it that you'd like to have access to, but you don't necessarily
want to buy for yourself?" And they're lending cake molds. One
of our libraries lent drones for a short time. Golf clubs. Power
tools. Libraries are finding all kinds of creative things to lend,
because they realize there's a need for someone who can't
afford an item they only may need one time. In my library, we
lend cameras. Digital cameras, video cameras, flip cameras,
e-book readers, tablets, tripods... We lend all kinds of things
like that to our students, who might need it for one assignment,
but don't need to own it. They also come for community things. Workshops, talks, children's programming, classes. They'll teach all kinds of classes. Computer. Lot of computer classes at libraries. With basic computer skills, social media skills. Libraries are also creating maker spaces, places where you can come and create a video, or an audio project, or create something physical, or maybe it's an image, or 3D printing. They're offering all kinds of services like that. Again, it's all technology that people and their communities may not be able to afford, but they want them to have a place to be able to do it.

*You work in an academic library. How do you compare e-book services in public libraries and in academic libraries today? Which is the most developed, and how would you compare these markets?*

The markets are different. We're after different content. Academics are after scholarly monographs. We're after reference titles, dissertations, thesis... We're after scholarly journal articles. We're after things that may not be read cover to cover. We're after things that people may need to consume a page of, or a few paragraphs of, or a few numbers of. So we buy it differently. We tend to pay for as much access as we can have, as we can afford. Because we know that an entire classroom might need to interact with that book at the same time. So that's very different than public libraries where much of the content they buy is designed for one person to interact with and read cover to cover. So the different needs of our content means that there's different formats, different purchasing business models, different ways to interact with the content. How we're similar is that there's always a license agreement, we're paying more than the print book usually, we're signing away the same rights, and we're taking risks for ongoing access. All of those things are very similar.
*Do you think it might be more difficult to find business models for public libraries than it is for academic libraries.*

Yes, academics have a wide variety of business models. Public libraries, because of the content, primarily this fiction content that is cover to cover, by big name publishers, they're only willing to license it at one model. They're not willing to give you unlimited access. Some are. In fact, OverDrive announced a new business model at the last conference. They are actively seeking more creative business models. Some publishers will sell unlimited access models to certain content.

There's a lot of competition between two markets in public libraries: B to C, and B to B. It's not the same thing in academic libraries. In France, there's not many students who buy many books. So it's not the same thing. So if you are a publisher, it's difficult to find a business model.

There's not a lot concern from academic publishers that libraries are going to steal the market away. Because the consumers aren't buying most of the titles. Our publishers make the books so that libraries buy them. So they want to sell to us, and they're willing to negotiate very different models if we will buy the content.

*Can public libraries afford these new contents? Are they facing financial restrictions, like they do in France?*

Yes, they are. There aren't many public libraries getting budget increases. Nobody got a golden bag of money dropped on the library building when e-books came along to go buy a new format. So they have to take from the print fund, the database fund, or the audio fund to support another format. We're buying the same item in multiple formats for our users, and our money can only go so far. There are people looking at the long terms effects of this. Can we survive on these models? Some people say no, we're not going to be able to. Which is why
people like Douglas County, and California, and Connecticut
are realizing that we can't sustain this. We have to have a dif-
ferent solution, so they're trying to come up with an alterna-
tive solution that will allow us to be sustainable. But yes, we
have serious budget issues, absolutely.

What happens a lot in libraries, is that when the demand comes for fiction books in electronic form, they take a look at use data for everything. What's the use on our journal, on our databases, on the golf clubs that we're lending out? And then they make decisions on what to stop subscribing to, and then they shift that money over to something else. You have to be creative. Creative budgeting.

*You said a few words about e-books accessibility, and I'm very happy about that. Is accessibility for print-impaired persons a concern for librarians in the U.S. at this moment, or is it just a concern for specialized persons like you?*

I would like to think it's the former and that it is a concern of
every librarian. I'm probably more aware of it, because in my
university, we specialize in assisting students with disabilities.
10% of our population has a disability so we're more sensitive to
it. But the ALA, the Digital Content Working Group, one of their
goals for the next 6 or 12 months is addressing accessibility. So
people are aware of it, and doing things about it. Little by little,
I think it will come. It's definitely getting much more attention
now than it did 3, 4 or 5 years ago. ePub really helped that.

*One question about the subscription model which is developing with Scribd, Oyster and Amazon Unlimited. Does the ALA identify these offers as threats for libraries today? Are they developing some advocacy to explain the difference between Kindle Unlimited and buying a library card?*

I don't know that there's a lot of advocacy on that yet. I mentio-
ned earlier that what librarians are really trying to stress, is why
are you spending $10 a month on this service, when your local taxes have already provided it to you with all of these resources. Print books, electronic books, whatever it is... Why are you duplicating your costs? So I can see that type advocacy happen. And maybe it's not necessarily advocacy as much as making people aware: "Look at how little you pay for all this information that you have." So I expect to see more of it. The Kindle Unlimited was just launched earlier this year I think, and immediately it was written about in the major library journals and things like that. People were already starting to talk about it and discuss what I just mentioned. So I see more of that happening.

*A French publisher is asking on Twitter: why libraries don't go on World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Second Life, and other stuff like that? Because we're speaking about digital things.*

I don't know the answer to that. I know that when *Second Life* launched, many libraries went right out and did something and then stopped. If I had to take a wild guess, I would say other things are a higher priority. You have to look at everything you do. A big phrase in libraries is always: "We're trying to be all things to all people." Is that really what we should be doing or should we focus our attention on the services that impact the most. And when you look at budgets decreasing, which means resources decrease, and staff decrease, you probably have to stop and think about what can we afford to stop doing in order to make sure we're doing our primary services to the best of our ability. That'd be my best guess about why we're not there. If somebody wants to start putting money bags on *Second Life*, we'll be there.

*What about streaming models for music and video in American libraries?*

We're moving in that direction. Freading has a music streaming part. OverDrive has streaming videos and audio now. In
academic libraries, we subscribe to streaming music and video
collections.

*Audiobooks?*

I don't know about audiobook streaming. It's primarily films we buy for the humanities, and music. Naxos Music is who we stream from in academics. But I know OverDrive has a lot of that going on.

*Do you have Netflix in U.S. libraries?*

I think some have tried. It's questionable whether or not we're
able to. It's not my expertise at all, so I'd hate to say more
about it, because I'd be making stuff up. I don't know a whole
lot about that, I really focus on the e-books.
4. Investigating the impact
of the e-book in Sweden<fnref n="1" />

by Thomas Wilson

In 2013 a consortium of researchers at the universities of Gothenburg and Borås, applied for, and obtained a grant from Vetenskapsrådet (the Swedish Research Council), to explore the e-book phenomenon, from authorship through to readership. We are engaged in a series of investigations, including interviews with authors, readers and publishers, and surveys of public and academic libraries.

This is a big project, a four-year project, with a grant of 12 million Swedish Krona, which is about 1.4 million euros for the period of time. Our e-book research group is composed of two colleagues from the university of Gothenburg, and the rest of us from the university of Borås. The participants from the university of Gothenburg are working chiefly with a national media survey, called the SOM (Society, Opinion and Media) survey, which goes out to a random sample of the Swedish population every year, and in which we have placed questions relating to e-book use. So we get a national picture of how e-books are being used in Sweden in general.

Figure 68 shows a map of Sweden, because I think it's important to understand the context that we're talking about. The separate colored areas are the different *lands* in Sweden, equivalent the *départements* in France. As you see, they vary enormously in size, with the ones in the north consuming about a third of the country

<footnote n="1">1. [Publisher's note] Thomas Wilson asked us to add an Afterword (see p. 155) on current developments in Sweden following the proceedings of its *presentation*.</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_75.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 68 — The geography of Sweden</figcaption></figure>

Source: 2016 - © GEOATLAS.fr.

in two lands, and the rest of them, in the more highly popula-
ted areas being smaller. Sweden has a land area a little less than
France. It's 449,964km². France is a bit bigger, at 551,500km². It
has a population, however, of only 9.6 million, compared with
France's 66 million, which gives you a population density of
21 people per km², compared with France, which has 114 people
per km². Of course that population density is not even all over
the country. In fact, 40% of the population of Sweden lives in
just 7 cities with more than 100,000 in population. The biggest
of which, of course, is the capital city, Stockholm, with 1.3 mil-
lion people. As you see, Sweden is long and narrow. 1,574km from
end to end. That's just about the same distance, it turns out, as it is from where I am sitting in Borås, to where you are sitting in Lyon. To get from Borås to Lyon, you have to go through all the European countries before you get to Lyon: it is a very lengthy country, very strung out, and course less highly populated in the far north than it is in the south, because of the climatic conditions.

So that's the geographical situation of the country, as it were. And if we look at the public libraries in Sweden, there are quite a lot of them: 290 public libraries, mainly small municipalities. Stockholm has a big city library system, with 40 branches. But outside of Stockholm, Malmö, and Gothenburg, the municipalities are rather small. On top of those municipalities, you have 20 county, or regional library systems, which are not separate library service points, but support services for the rest of the public library system. Originally, they supported the smaller libraries with interlibrary lending services, deposit collections of additional books, and advice and consultancy generally. Today they do more of that consultancy, professional training, and promotion of reading in the community. A central authority was established for the public library system in Sweden in 1913. That role is now performed by the Swedish Arts Council. In addition to the public library system as a whole, there are three lending centres, based on the public libraries in Stockholm, Malmö and Umeå. Stockholm in the center, Malmö in the south, Umeå in the north. In addition to the three lending centres, there's a foreign literature repository based in Stockholm, and a national repository library of little-used materials, out-of-print material which is no longer active, which is in the national repository in Umeå. Material is placed there by public libraries and school libraries, depositing stock that they no longer need in their local library.

As an example of the county library kind of activity, we can consider Uppsala County Library. It has a commitment to develop
libraries in the whole of Uppsala County, through further training, counselling, gathering intelligence, and so forth. These are its specific aims and objectives. To pursue the development of skills through further education for library staff, initiate projects, stimulate the development of county library activities, cooperate with other regional institutions, building networks, supporting the county libraries with supplementary supplies of media and information, and spreading knowledge of Uppland's cultural heritage and of literary Uppland. This diffusion of the local culture, and the promotion of the local culture is a significant part of the activities of the county library services.

Turning to e-books: an e-book is a book composed in, or converted to digital format, for display on a computer screen or handheld device. It has its origins in 1971, when Michael Hart placed online a digital copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which became the first volume in Project Gutenberg, which now more than 50,000 volumes. The growth in e-books, as a modern phenomenon, is really the result of the development of mobile computing. I imagine it was only the computer geeks who used e-books when you had to consult them on a desktop computer, and probably also when you had to consult them on a laptop. But as soon as the practical, portable e-reader was developed, and even more when the Kindle and the iPad hit the market, and more recently when smartphones have been developed, the result was the ability to read on the move, and the growth of e-books mushroomed. This is the primary cause of the sudden development of the e-book as a publishing phenomenon.

But of course, it's not the same everywhere. If we look at the picture for the USA, for example, in 2008, the revenue from e-books was $270 million, a minuscule amount compared with what is forecast for 2018, when more than $8.5 billion is expected to be spent on the purchase of e-books. But the curve has flattened
somewhat. It was going up almost exponentially up to 2014, but
from 2014, the annual increase is rather lower. Whether that is
the result of the austerity period that we've all been suffering
from, whether it is simply that the market has been satisfied, and
all the people who want to use e-books are now using them, is
difficult to determine. It is only when the recession and austerity
are finally overtaken by economic growth, that we will find out if
there's any resurgence in the market. I suspect that there won't
be, because if you look at the reasons why people use e-books,
there's one dominant feature, and that is the ability to read on
the move. If you have a long journey to work time, and you're tra-
veling by public transport, or perhaps a shared car in a carpool,
then this is an opportunity to read. And instead of carrying books
around with you, you can simply have your smartphone, and you
can read from that. Or you have an e-reader, like the Kindle, or
a tablet computer like the iPad, and you can store on these hun-
dreds of books. So you can always have something available. And
there is a limit to the number of people who travel in that way.
And I suspect that that proportion of the population sets the limit
to how far e-books use will expand, because if you look at usage
information from surveys, you find that even the people who are
quite enthusiastic about e-books, are reading ordinary printed
books when they're at home. So the two things are going to exist
side by side. The notion that e-books are going to completely take
over, I think, is a bit of journalistic nonsense. I don't think it's
going to happen. It would be difficult for the publishers to make
it happen, given the uncertainty about the market.

When you look at the English language market, you can see that
it is completely different from the rest of the world. Figure 69
is an image from a study by the Bowker Corporation in 2012. It
shows you in the blue part of the line the number of respondents
to the survey who said that they have used e-books. The green
color is people who were aware of e-books but had not used
<figure><img src="image_76.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 69 – Familiarity with e-books around the world</figcaption></figure>

Source: Bowker releases results of global ebook research, 27 March 2012.

them, and the yellow element is people who were not aware of e-books at all. As you can see, there's quite a geographical difference, and an associated language difference. You look at the most highly aware countries, USA, Australia, UK, India, they're all English-speaking. There are 340 million English speakers in India, so we can regard India as an English-speaking country, although it has dozens of other languages as well. When you look at other countries, you see that there is a lower proportion for use. And this lower proportion of use obviously has cultural factors, economic factors, technology development factors, and so on and so forth, affecting the situation. It's not a simple picture. For example, the low use of e-books in France, although it has
been growing over the past two years, may be a consequence
of the fact that there is a lower degree of smartphone penetra-
tion in France, than there is in quite a number of other European
countries. Japan may have a low usage because they have a very
high penetration of book shops, and printed books are relati-
vely cheap in Japan. And interestingly, the e-book phenomenon
which is used in Japan, is not books in the normal sense, but
manga, the comic books.

So there are cultural, linguistic, and other factors that come to
bear on whether or not e-books are used to any significant extent
in one country or another.

When we look at e-books and public libraries, there are some
things which make the e-book different from a printed book.
E-books cannot be regarded as books in the sense in which public
libraries generally treat books. First of all, an e-book is not pur-
chased, usually it is licensed. So access to the e-book is allowed
by the license. You cannot store the e-book permanently, in fact
it is stored on the provider's server in the case of Sweden, not on
the library's server. You cannot interlend it, very often you can't
print anything from it. In some cases, you can't even copy a sec-
tion from it to use elsewhere. So e-books are different from prin-
ted books in this respect. The second point is that public libraries
don't have the technology platforms on which to mount e-books
and lend them, even if they could buy them outright. They don't
have the technology available to do this. Providing that techno-
logy would be a significant cost. Publishers also put restrictions
on e-books in one way or another. They may put restrictions on
the number of loans you can have for the license, or you can only
lend the e-book to one person at a time, as though it was a phy-
sical book, or they may inflate prices so that in fact it is totally
uneconomic to borrow the e-book.

And then you have third party aggregators like OverDrive, which
operate in the U.S. and UK. These entered the market, and there
was a danger of a monopoly situation arising. Because if one
of those third party aggregators comes to dominate the market,
then the price might very well rise. And as I said, access is not
on the library side, it is highly likely to be on the provider's side.
When we turn to e-book in Swedish public libraries, a number
of cultural and legal things affect the situation here. Historically,
Sweden was a very poor country. In 1850 for example, it was at
about the same level of development as somewhere like Malawi
is today. You have to remember the speed with which econo-
mic development has taken place in a country like Sweden over
the past 100 years; it has been completely transformed, out of
all recognition. In 1850 there were only 3.4 million people in the
country. All those 449,000km², and only 3.4 million people there.
Between 1850 and 1930, there was massive emigration, espe-
cially to America. By comparison, at the same time, France had
10 times as many people, it had 34 million people in 1850.

Perhaps because of this thinly spread population, there was great
need for both self-reliance – because in small, scattered com-
munities, you had to manage independently – but also there's a
great need for collaboration and cooperation with your neigh-
bours, because in emergency, these were the only people you had
to rely upon. So you have this kind of dichotomy in the Swedish
ethos, of self-reliance and independence, and yet a high degree
of collaboration going on, which might seem completely contra-
dictory, but that's the way it works.

Out of this, you get a national ethos, for the provision of
collaborative services in the community, out of which the public
library services grew. In spite of the early development of public
libraries in Sweden, it did not actually have a public library law
until as late as 1997. That has recently been revised, and there's
a very important provision in it, that resources must be avai-
lable in all media, which means that if an e-book exists, and the
readers want it, you have to provide it. There is no indication in the revision of the library law how this is to be paid for, but it is a legal requirement that you have to have resources in all of the available media. Not only that, but all materials must be loaned free of charge. There are no payments by the readers, to use the public library. Another key element of the public library law is that every citizen shall have access to a library. So you have bookmobiles going out to ensure that every citizen does have access to a library. The public lending rights system already exists in Sweden as well, to pay authors for books that are loaned, but this doesn't cover e-books. In other words, in law, an e-book is not regarded as book, it is regarded as a license to a computer service, in effect. Which, to a certain extent, is reasonable.

In 2001, eLib was established by the three largest publishers in Sweden. It was then joined by a fourth large publisher. Bonnier is probably the best known of these internationally, because it also operates globally. But there are other that you may not have heard of, Nordstedt, Natur och Kultur, and Piratförlaget. These are the four biggest publishers in Sweden. Smaller publishers made use of the eLib services to deliver their e-books to the public library system, but those are the four big ones. They had a monopoly in the situation until 2013, when another provider, Atingo, was established by a book distributor, Publit, which is one of the biggest book distributors in the world, and Axiell, a libraryITcompany. They are working to deliver a system which will compete with eLib, and in fact which is already competing with eLib. A number of public library systems have moved over to Atingo from eLib.

In 2014, Stockholm Public Library began its own collaboration with Publit, and the publisher Ordfront, to develop a system specifically for Stockholm Public Library, for access to Ordfront's output.

It is important to note that until round about 2008, the eLib service was well ahead of anything else in the rest of the world.
Sweden was leading the field in the provision of e-book service to public libraries through eLib. There was no DRM on the books, no restrictions on the number of loans. The system of payment was that the library paid 20 Krona, about 2 euros, for every loan. It could lend as many e-books as it could afford. No limits at all on how many people could borrow a book at the same time, no limits at all on how long they could go on borrowing the book. So eLib was well ahead of the rest of the world, and in fact, in terms of those characteristics, the rest of the world has yet caught up with Sweden.

Things changed in 2008, because until then the demand was low. And the libraries could afford to meet the relatively low demand without too much damage to their materials budget. Things changed in 2008, because a footballer, now playing for Paris Saint-Germain, published his autobiography: Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Demand for the e-book version of his memoirs went through the roof, and caused enormous for the public libraries, because they now found that their budget was being attacked by the e-book phenomenon. Demand for e-books started to grow, and has kept on growing ever since, although it's also slackened off here over the past year or so, to a degree.

The extent of e-book lending is still only a small proportion of the total book lending: perhaps 2 to 3% overall. And for the population in general, e-book reading is very low: 91.4% have never read an e-book. We get that data from the SOM survey, that I mentioned earlier, that our colleagues at the university of Gothenburg are using. So we know that this is pretty accurate. It's accurate within plus/minus 5% or there abouts. So it's a tiny minority of people who have used e-books, and the number is only 1% that have read an e-book every week in the previous year. 1% of the total population.

Access to the e-books is through the eLib website, linked from the library site. So if you went on the Web, for example to any
of the public libraries in Sweden, here in Borås for example, and
you clicked on the “E-books” link. And then you clicked on an
individual cover image, that would then immediately take you
through to the eLib server, and you would be out of the public
library system. And all the records of demand and use and so
forth, are on the eLib site, not on the local library site. That is one
of the things that is changing with Atingo, because Atingo makes
available an API which enables the library to keep all that infor-
mation on its own servers. The lending is apparently done, so far
as the user is concerned, from the library's own server. In fact,
it's coming the Atingo server, but the user is not aware of that.

This is a changing situation, as I've said, and we don't know
exactly how it's going to go, but when we surveyed public libra-
ries a couple of years ago, a number of issues were brought to our
attention, problems that they were experiencing.

The dominant thing is that the librarians felt that eLib model pre-
vented them from doing a proper professional job. They couldn't
select what they wanted, they had to take what was offered. So
directly trying to serve the needs of the community was not pos-
sible for them, they had to take what was given. This, they felt,
was an erosion of their professional standing.

The second thing is that because of the growth in demand,
although still low, budgeting becomes a problem. It's a small
amount, 2 euros per loan, but if you are lending several thou-
sand e-books, that is several tens of thousands of Krona that you
can't spend on printed books. So the libraries have to decide how
they are going to deal with this. Because they set a budget, some
libraries stop lending books at a particular point every month,
when the budget for that month has been exceeded. Some of
them carry on spending, but may stop lending e-books, let's say
in October, because they haven't got any money left in the bud-
get. So planning the budget becomes something of a headache for
public librarians. They can't do it, because the demand is uncertain, and the demand has been growing.

The other problem that the librarians experienced, which again erodes their professional status, is that the publishers control access, and they can change the status of an item at any time. They can remove it from availability. If it shows signs of selling well in the bookstores, they can take away the eLib access. Or they can change the status of an item at any time, so that something that was openly available might suddenly be restricted in the number of loans that you can have for it. So this is very unsatisfactory, from the point of view of the librarians.

Further problems arise as a result of the new system that eLib introduced in 2014. Because of the problems with the previous system, they decided to have a new system. And this new system seems to have as many problems as the old system had, because they now have three levels of pricing.

⊙ Pay-per-loan, 20 Krona per loan, as previously, but price is set by the publisher. So, for books that are in the back list, and are not being used, they might say “Ok, 1 Krona per loan.” For something which is fairly recent, and still quite active, they might say not 20 Krona per loan, but 35 Krona per loan. So it’s down to the publisher to decide the price at which they’re going to make something available.

⊙ Licence model A: fixed fee for a limited number of loans. You decided to pay 100 Krona, let's say, for 50 loans of this particularly book.

⊙ Licence model B: fixed fee for unlimited number of loans.

So from the relatively simple model that was causing problems previously, we now have a more complex model, in which the librarian has to spend more time making decisions on which of these elements to accept in relation to any individual book in the
system. So it's more work for the librarian, probably more costly
in the end, because of the high price of some of the books, and
no more satisfactory than the old model. So I don't know if this
has changed things, and it's perhaps only the emergence of the
Atingo model, which is already attracting customers from eLib,
I think 24 library systems have now converted to Atingo from
eLib... First of all, the API enables the library to maintain all the
data about lending, price and so forth, on its own library servers.
There is greater variation in the cost of titles, with the price set
by the publisher, which will vary over time. And all titles from
the publisher are available. The rationing is done by price rather
than by putting an embargo on a title, and saying "You can't have
the e-version for 6 months, or a year, or whatever." This gives the
library greater flexibility, and more control of the spending, but
problems of budgeting are likely to remain because of the uncer-
tain demand levels that there will be for e-books.

Now, what's the reaction from libraries to these developments.
As I said, some libraries have moved from eLib to Atingo. Some
are hoping that the new Stockholm Public Library, with Publit,
can be extended to other libraries in Sweden, and can engage
more publishers. That seems to be a strong wish, which we'll be
exploring later this year. And some have pulled out of e-lending
completely, because of the budgetary uncertainty. Most signifi-
cant of these is the Östergötland County Library, which is on the
east coast of Sweden, south of Stockholm. Östergötland County
Library withdrew from its agreement with eLib, thereby affec-
ting the 13 municipalities that were using the service. Because
Östergötland County Library was the negotiator with eLib, and
they held the contracts for the provision of services. So when the
county library pulled out of the agreement, the 13 member muni-
cipal libraries were affected by this. The reason that they pulled
out was that charging for the service was done on a per-capita
basis. So the biggest municipalities paid most. And some of these
municipalities objected to paying most. The county library was
having to find the resources from elsewhere. Also, on about the
15th of every month, the budget had been used up, and the service
had to be withdrawn. This was quite a problem.<fnref n="2" />

Elsewhere there had been difficulties. In Norrköping for example,
an old industrial city in Sweden.

The problem is that our costs for e-books increased fivefold between
2011 and 2012, and this year we have almost doubled the cost again. We
have already made changes in priorities in the media budget, where
should we cut down further, and for which users? Should we reduce
the purchase of fiction and just offer digitally literate users access?<fnref n="3" />

This is the dilemma that public libraries are facing. That if they
provide the e-book service, they run the risk of damaging their
other services in the public library. So it's a problem, and it's a
problem I think is possibly unlikely to be resolved very soon.

As part of our investigations, we provided colleagues in Lithuania
and Croatia with our survey of publishers, in order to get some
comparative information from other small language markets,
markets with a limited number of speakers of the native lan-
guage. For example, Lithuania has 2.9 million people, Croatia has
3.4, and Sweden has 9.6. So these are small language markets.

We put a number of propositions to the publishers:

⊙ E-books should be sold to libraries in the same way as printed books.

⊙ E-books should be allowed to be loaned for a limited num-
ber of loans.

<footnote n="2">2. Since this presentation was given Atingo has taken over eLib, so there is now only one provider for public libraries. The four publishers retain a minority interest in Atingo.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">3. Birgitte Hjerpe, Director of Libraries, Norrköping, quoted in *Kritisk röst i Götabiblioteket*, by Åsa Ekström, *Biblioteksbladet*, September 2013, p. 16.</footnote>
⊙ E-books should be priced higher for libraries than printed books.

⊙ E-books should not be made available to public libraries.

Interestingly, the biggest majority of publishers disagreed with that last proposition. As Figure 70 shows, very few of them wanted to see e-books not available to public libraries. You can understand why that is the case in Sweden, because public libraries account for a significant part of the total book market in Sweden. So clearly, publishers are not going to want public libraries not to have e-books available. In the other two countries, something similar must be operating, because high proportions are found there.

We get some conflict going on in the publishers' heads when we look at the other information. On the one hand, in each country, a majority agree that e-books should be sold to libraries in the same way as printed books. 67% in Sweden, 67% in Lithuania, 77% in Croatia. But at the same time, a majority also believe that e-books should not be allowed to be loaned for an indefinite number of times. There should be a limit to the number of loans. 53% in Sweden, 53% in Lithuania, 58% in Croatia. Fortunately, a minority only in each country believe that e-books should be priced higher for libraries. Close to 50% in Sweden and in Lithuania, 47% each, 39% in Croatia.

The interesting thing about this comparative analysis in these three small language countries, is the very high degree of similarity in the opinions of the publishers in those three countries. They have very similar ideas about e-books being made available, and the terms under which they should be made available.

You are probably familiar with the theory of innovation, by Richard Rogers, where he talks about innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. It seems that the lending of e-books from public libraries in Sweden is still at the early
<table><caption>Fig. 70 – Publishers and public libraries</caption><thead><tr><th rowspan="2">Statement</th><th colspan="2">Sweden</th><th colspan="2">Lithuania</th><th colspan="2">Croatia</th></tr><tr><th>% Agree</th><th>% Disagree</th><th>% Agree</th><th>% Disagree</th><th>% Agree</th><th>% Disagree</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>E-books should be sold to libraries in the same way as printed books.</td><td>67</td><td>33</td><td>67</td><td>32</td><td>77</td><td>23</td></tr><tr><td>E-books should be allowed to be loaned for a limited number of loans.</td><td>53</td><td>47</td><td>53</td><td>46</td><td>58</td><td>42</td></tr><tr><td>E-books should be priced higher for libraries than printed books because of the possibility of an unlimited number of loans.</td><td>47</td><td>53</td><td>47</td><td>53</td><td>39</td><td>61</td></tr><tr><td>E-books should not be made available to public libraries.</td><td>9</td><td>91</td><td>9</td><td>90</td><td>17</td><td>83</td></tr></tbody></table>

Source: project survey data.

adopter stage. We can tell this by the proportion of books that are borrowed, compared with printed books: 2-3% of all borrowings.

There is, as yet, no nationally available platform that gives public libraries a firm hold over their budgets, although the Atingo model may go a bit further in achieving this.

Other providers may come into the market and introduce new models. For example, for the past 2 or 3 years, it has been said that Amazon is going to open up in Sweden. In spite of all the rumors to this effect, Amazon is not yet in the Swedish market. But if it does come into the market, it could very well set up its own lending system for books. It already has a lending system for people who use their Prime service, so what's to stop them extending this to libraries?

I think whatever the outcome, all we can be sure of, is that the future will be different from the past. But in saying that, I think the
French author Simone Weil said "The future is made of the same stuff as the present." So perhaps for some time to come, we're likely to see more of the same, rather than something crucially different.

Discussion

> *About the stake of owning platforms for libraries to manage their e-book lending... You say that libraries didn't have the technological resources to develop their own platform, but in your conclusion, you say that it's difficult for libraries to find a way to manage their budgets and to have some preservation of the e-books they want to loan. Do you think that there is a stake in Swedish libraries to cooperatively develop some infrastructure or platform?*

There has been some talk about the national library in Sweden, the Royal Library, entering into discussions with an IT provider, with the possibility of developing a national e-lending platform for libraries, and it recently received a significant grant to explore the possibilities. One of the problems is that whatever is developed will have to negotiate access with all of the individual publishers. And there is something like 150 publishers in Sweden. So anybody setting up a separate system will have to negotiate access with all of the publishers, which in itself is a big job. Whatever technological infrastructure is developed will have to interact with the technology systems of those 150 publishers. Some of them may not have highly developed technology infrastructures. Some of these 150 publishers consist of one, two or three people, producing two or three books a year. So, the very logistics of actually establishing something different, are going to be, I think, a major barrier to producing a public infrastructure for e-book lending. And I think for the time being, the libraries are going to be dependant on either eLib or Atingo. It may be that Atingo will
come to dominate, because behind Atingo, you have Publit, this
big book distributor, one of the biggest in the world. They are
obviously continually involved in negotiations with individual
publishers for their normal book distribution activities. It may
be that they will be able to put in place a better system than eLib
have been able to. So I think people are looking to Atingo and
Publit as perhaps the next best alternative to a public system.

*Have you compared the e-book situation between Swedish libraries and other countries?*

As I said at the beginning, the big difference is between English-
speaking countries and everywhere else. I think that the domi-
nant thing that you find here, is if you look, for example, at
Spanish, that is a big language market. Use of e-books is sprea-
ding quite a lot in Spain. There's a great deal of public len-
ding activity going on in Spain of e-books. Everyday, there are
news items of new public libraries lending e-books in Spain.
Of course, they also have a big Latin American market, so they
have a much bigger language market in which to operate,
just as the English language market is a much bigger market.
Whereas in a country like Sweden, 9.6 million people is the
total limit if your market. People in Norway and Denmark can
read Swedish without any difficulty. The languages are dialects
of one another, so they can read Swedish. But nobody knows
how many people in Norway and Denmark read Swedish, so
we don't know how big a market is there for it.

*You described the eLib management issues, and the introduction of the pay-per-loan model in 2014. Does this model allow the definition of some evaluation of a market price of a loan for a pay-per-loan system?*

In effect, the Swedish collaboration with Publit and Ordfront
that I mentioned, what happened there is that the Stockholm
Public Library provided the resources to digitise the whole of
Ordfront's backlist. As a result of that, they get access to all of the items on the backlist at a very low price. In return, Ordfront makes available its current output, entirely without restriction. So it doesn't have embargoes on the best-sellers, or anything like that. It makes everything available, but at a variation in prices, depending upon how old the book is, the popularity, and so on. So in effect, a market is being established on the basis of the recency and popularity of the item in the collection. If a book is more than 4 months old, the loan price immediately drops. So this gives the library an opportunity to say "We can't afford to lend this yet, but if you wait a few months we'll have it available." So they can negotiate with their readers, if you like.

*Does this model show some kind of new usage patterns for the library users?*

I think it's a bit too early to find that out yet. It was only introduced towards the end of 2014, so I think it might be too early to know. We will be trying to find out things like that when we survey the libraries again towards the end of this year. We'll be hoping to have some data on that.

*About publishers setting the prices of e-books for libraries...*

As I said, the situation in Sweden is very unusual, because of the dominant role of the public libraries in the book market generally. So, to a certain extent, there's almost no other commercial market. In France, of course, you have fixed prices for books, whether they are e-books or printed books. There's no fixed price for books in Sweden.

[...]

That isn't an issue that we have found librarians talking about. It doesn't seem to be an issue for them. The biggest issue, I think, for librarians, is two-fold. One is that if they want to