New Roles for the 21st Century

In the days of self-censorship, the image of librarians as gatekeepers with the ability to aid or impede access to information and perspectives due to their selection practices or user policies led to stereotypes of the frigid sycophant, out of step with both the times and the needs of those around them: Hair in a bun, permanent frown lines, antiquated morals, and—shhhh!—no interpersonal skills. Today the term “gatekeeper” is being applied again to the work of librarians in this age of transition from print-based products and services to our internet-based society. With equal unfairness, librarians are often being positioned as being print-bound, ignoring all of the complexities brought by technology in an age of decreasing funding for most public service agencies. In fact, librarians are getting downright sassy these days.

In March 2014, the directors of 66 liberal arts college libraries belonging to the Oberlin Group called on academic libraries to reject ebook licensing agreements with publishers, citing the “threat” caused by “contractual agreements for ebooks [which] regularly forbid sharing those publications with persons outside the licensing institutions” (“On Ebooks & Libraries: A Statement by the Oberlin Group of Liberal Arts College Libraries”; oberlingroup.org/node/14801). Believing that libraries, not publishers, should be determining access policies—and that readers should be able to keep their personal information free of potential commercial use—these directors called on publishers to move to contracts that allow for individual, unbundled titles and the chance for libraries to buy licenses without usage limits. “Our commitment to sharing is fundamental as is our commitment to promoting and demanding models that make such sharing possible.”

Beyond this ongoing effort to reform and improve licensing and access for their users, librarians have strongly embraced a new role, what former Douglas County (Castle Rock, Colo.) librarian and now consultant Jamie LaRue calls “gardening.” Instead of being at the access end of the publishing chain, libraries are aggressively taking on roles to support self-publishers and even to join the publishing ranks. One great example of this is the Contra Costa Public Library (ccclib.org), located in Pleasant Hill, Calif. With the tagline of “bringing people and ideas together,” the library actively encourages people wanting to become self-published authors by providing services and resources to make that process easier for them. Contra Costa Public Library is also working with Smashwords to get author works into “print.”

Public libraries are perhaps leading this effort to act as gardeners, nurturing self-authors, providing tools and assistance in the publishing process for their communities. The enki Project, “the first statewide ebook platform created by libraries for libraries” (califa.org/enkiproject), is actually a multistate ebook platform created in partnership with Contra Costa County Library. Today, the project has partners in the State Library of Kansas and beyond. The enki online platform (enkilibrary.org) is easy to use and allows libraries to get on board, aggregating ebooks for self-publishers as well as vendors and major publishers, with each group working together to keep costs low and maximize benefits to readers.

The Arizona State Library (azlibrary.gov) is working to launch a statewide multimedia content delivery platform designed to be operated by BiblioBoard (biblioboard.com) yet owned by the state library agency and open to users and libraries across the state. According to the site Reading Arizona: The Literary Landscape, “In addition to hosting commercially available ebooks about Arizona, BiblioBoard will include a self-publishing module for local authors with book reviews and a rating system” (“Arizona State Library, BiblioLabs Move Forward With eBook Platform”; readingarizona.wordpress.com/2014/05/20/arizona-state-library-bibliolabs-move-forward-with-ebook-platform). The platform is designed to provide “unlimited, multi-user access for optimal patron experience, and patrons will be able to access up to three books at a time on their offline bookshelves.” In July 2014, the Massachusetts eBook Project, using software and systems from BiblioBoard and 3M, was announced (masslibsystem.org/mls-statewide-ebook-project) as “a first step in providing access to ebooks on a statewide level. ...” The project initially involved 50 libraries of all types but seeks more widespread legislative support to expand the program statewide.

The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection has reported on potential strategies for getting its state public libraries fairer access to ebooks. It concluded that the “most forward-thinking and sustainable option” was for the legislature to “make a significant statewide investment in the creation of an ebook distribution platform that could be shared by libraries in the state” (“An Act Concerning a Study Regarding the Availability of Electronic Books to Users of Public Libraries”; ct.gov/dcp/lib/dcp/pdf/publications/e-book_study_final_30jan2014.pdf).

OverDrive is currently working with more than 28,000 libraries, schools, and retailers. It is particularly happy the Big Five are now on board with lending policies. The company’s database includes more than 2 million ebooks and audiobooks for loan or purchase under a variety of models. Its one book/one user model represents approximately 85% of OverDrive’s volume. Steve Potash, OverDrive CEO, believes we will see more experimentation with business models from major publishers. “This is a truly exciting time, it’s been a long journey but we now have all of the Big Five onboard in the market with simultaneous release of their popular bestseller ebooks for lending.” He believes the free marketplace is going to enable even more favorable terms and conditions going forward. “I think the subscription model is great. Today, 150 million Americans have no relationship with their libraries. This may be one of those moments where subscription services can help raise awareness so that everyone in every community has some sort of relationship with libraries.”

Across the U.S., state libraries, legislatures, and other entities are working to create sustainable ebook systems that can provide access to a wide variety of content (from self-published to the Big Five; from ebooks to other types of information) and a standard interface with advanced options for user control, input, and interaction. Sanfilippo wishes the process was further along in terms of collaboration. He is of the opinion that libraries might make more progress in the self-publishing arena if they collaborated more and reinvented fewer wheels. He also thinks library publishing tends to address the current issues in scholarly communication without including the issue of STEM publishing, which is not served by university presses. This lack of STEM inclusion is what Sanfilippo sees as the root of the ebook access problem.

By working collaboratively, libraries are finally joining with their governments, communities, users, authors, and publishers to create a new ecosystem for information in the 21st century. This shows an advanced understanding of the political and economic systems in which libraries have to work as well as a well-defined sense of mission and user needs. It is to be heartily applauded.