Libraries 'have had their day'...

Bicyclefish · Feb 13, 2013

...says Horrible Histories author.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/feb/13/libraries-horrible-histories-terry-deary

"[...] we've got this idea that we've got an entitlement to read books for free, at the expense of authors, publishers and council tax payers. This is not the Victorian age, when we wanted to allow the impoverished access to literature. We pay for compulsory schooling to do that [...]"

"The libraries are doing nothing for the book industry. They give nothing back, whereas bookshops are selling the book, and the author and the publisher get paid, which is as it should be. What other entertainment do we expect to get for free?" [...]

Bookshops are closing down, he said, "because someone is giving away the product they are trying to sell. [...] The car industry would collapse if we went to car libraries for free use of Porsches [...] they are damaging the book industry. They are putting bookshops out of business [...]"

This is so sad and so wrong, in my opinion.

Cyia · Feb 13, 2013

This person obviously doesn't know that libraries are one of the largest purchasers of books out there.

James D. Macdonald · Feb 13, 2013

Nor does this person have the slightest clue what libraries are all about.

They're for information management.

Also: Libraries aren't "free." They're a line item in the town's budget, paid for out of tax revenue.

Beachgirl · Feb 13, 2013

As a published author with a stack of library books sitting on my desk, that article makes me incredibly sad.

Maythe · Feb 13, 2013

Bah. I absolutely agree that piracy of books is a very bad thing but libraries and legitimate casual lending of books between friends are not piracy and are beneficial to the author IMO.

Dorky · Feb 13, 2013

I always try not to be mean, but sometimes I just can’t avoid it.

This person is an idiot who doesn’t know much about libraries.

The only other thing I got out of this, besides the above, is that this guy wants more money.

shadowwalker · Feb 13, 2013

I can't count how many books I first got from the library and then turned around and bought. So that's a sale to the library and then a sale to me. And, of course, sales to the the people I recommended the book to. And the sales from their recommendations...

Dorky · Feb 13, 2013

Maythe said:
... but libraries and legitimate casual lending of books between friends are not piracy and are beneficial to the author IMO.

Yeah. It’s easy advertising/marketing (if your book ends up being good enough to pick up fans).

Anyway, this guy needs to talk to Neil Gaiman to understand why “piracy” (copyright infringement) isn’t straight-up evil.

JournoWriter · Feb 13, 2013

Libraries introduce a huge population of people to reading who can't afford to purchase books. Those readers then go out and buy books when they can. It's a hugely beneficial cycle for writers.

Besides, without libraries, writers would have nowhere to go to find out-of-print books for reference. B&N sure isn't going to carry that 1980 textbook on policing that I consulted today at the library.

What a moron.

muravyets · Feb 13, 2013

"[...] we've got this idea that we've got an entitlement to read books for free, at the expense of authors, publishers and council tax payers. This is not the Victorian age, when we wanted to allow the impoverished access to literature. We pay for compulsory schooling to do that [...]"

Oh, I see. Screw the poor. We've evolved beyond the need for universal literacy or access to information, because fuck it, it's not like we need an informed or educated electorate, right? End entitlements now! Who the hell do all these people who want to read think they are?

Also, what the hell do we need to save all those old books for? Who is ever going to want to think about old stuff again?

Yeah, this is the kind of argument to which I usually just say "Thank you. Next!" and move on.

ironmikezero · Feb 13, 2013

Demean libraries? Inhibit those who would read - and perhaps learn to think for themselves?

Hmm, such heresy... get a rope!

ElaineA · Feb 13, 2013

JournoWriter said:
What a moron.

I think this pretty much sums it up. Well said.

MaryMumsy · Feb 13, 2013

I haven't read the linked item. This person is an idiot. I can't count the number of 'new to me' authors I have checked out at the library and then gone and purchased the book. As well as the author's backlist. I will admit that some of that backlist has been from the used book store or non profit book sales, but my used book store will also order me anything still in print, and that is another sale for the author.

MM

Bicyclefish · Feb 13, 2013

muravyets said:
Oh, I see. Screw the poor. We've evolved beyond the need for universal literacy or access to information, because fuck it, it's not like we need an informed or educated electorate, right? End entitlements now! Who the hell do all these people who want to read think they are?

There are no poor. That was sooo 150 years ago. The lower class no longer exists, and everyone can afford to buy all the books they want now. Everyone. </sarcasm>

I'm not sure what he's trying to say here, that literature isn't elite anymore but should be? Or books are just entertainment thus not important enough to be accessible to the masses?

"Books are part of the entertainment industry. Literature has been something elite, but it is not any more. This is not the Roman empire, where we give away free bread and circuses to the masses. People expect to pay for entertainment.[...] But because libraries have been around for so long, people have this idea that books should be freely available to all. I'm afraid those days are past. Libraries cost a vast amount … and the council tax payers are paying a lot of money to subsidise them, when they are used by an ever-diminishing amount of people."

Maybe trying to make sense of his logic is futile, and I should go look at bunny photos.

JournoWriter · Feb 13, 2013

I haven't read the linked item.

You need to, because it gets better. Authors in the UK apparently get money from library checkouts, so this fellow is making money ... just not as much as he would like. Wish we had that problem on this side of the pond.

Alessandra Kelley · Feb 13, 2013

Wow. Even g'zillionaire despots like Andrew Carnegie recognized that free access to books was a social good, even if it meant the poor could get their grubby paws on them.

Between that lady at HarperCollins suggesting bookstores should charge people for browsing and this, I feel like people in the industry who ought to know better are spreading some godawful ideas about restricting access to books.

The stupid, it burns.

LJD · Feb 13, 2013

Ummmmm.....wow.

also, libraries here allow access to computers/internet for people who might not have these resources, and they are usually quite busy with people studying. So they have other functions as well.

leahzero · Feb 13, 2013

The stupid is strong with this one.

jeffo20 · Feb 13, 2013

it's been 150 years...libraries are lovely places, but...they are putting bookshops out of business,

Damn, those libraries are patient. They clearly understand the value of taking the long view.

Vito · Feb 13, 2013

The only thing wrong with my local library is that there's too much loud talking going on there. We need more librarians who are tough enough to confront the guilty parties and whisper "Shhhhhhhhhhh" with authority.

Seriously, boys and girls...let's remember to use our library voices, and leave our recess voices on the playground where they belong. :Lecture:

Amadan · Feb 13, 2013

Dumbass makes the same mistake that authors who scream hysterically about piracy make:

As one of the most popular library authors – his books were borrowed more than 500,000 times during 2011/12 – Deary will have received the maximum amount possible for a writer from the Public Lending Right scheme, which gives authors 6.2p every time one of their books is borrowed, up to a cap of £6,600. "If I sold the book I'd get 30p per book. I get six grand, and I should be getting £180,000.

Except that there is no way that every one of those 500,000 readers would have bought his book if it hadn't been available in libraries (especially since, y'know, he's a children's book author). Some small fraction of library loans undoubtedly would have converted to sales in the absence of libraries, but it's unlikely to be large, and you'd also have to offset all the future sales he'd be losing since many people wouldn't even know his books exist if they didn't find them in the library.

If we had some way to crunch all the numbers in light of so many hypotheticals , it's possible we would discover that authors take a net loss from libraries (though I am by no means convinced of this). But that still wouldn't be a sufficient argument. Even aside from the emotional investment we all have in libraries as readers and writers, the availability of free literature has been widely seen as a public good for the last 150 years for good reason.

I wonder if he also hates used bookstores and sites like PaperbackSwap.com. Maybe he'd like to see print books treated the way publishers want to treat ebooks, as legally unsharable.

muravyets · Feb 13, 2013

Amadan said:
Dumbass makes the same mistake that authors who scream hysterically about piracy make:

Except that there is no way that every one of those 500,000 readers would have bought his book if it hadn't been available in libraries (especially since, y'know, he's a children's book author). Some small fraction of library loans undoubtedly would have converted to sales in the absence of libraries, but it's unlikely to be large, and you'd also have to offset all the future sales he'd be losing since many people wouldn't even know his books exist if they didn't find them in the library.

If we had some way to crunch all the numbers in light of so many hypotheticals , it's possible we would discover that authors take a net loss from libraries (though I am by no means convinced of this). But that still wouldn't be a sufficient argument. Even aside from the emotional investment we all have in libraries as readers and writers, the availability of free literature has been widely seen as a public good for the last 150 years for good reason.

I wonder if he also hates used bookstores and sites like PaperbackSwap.com. Maybe he'd like to see print books treated the way publishers want to treat ebooks, as legally unsharable.

Maybe he thinks that, after a certain amount of time, firemen should come to our houses to burn our books to prevent misuse.

Torgo · Feb 13, 2013

Terry Deary isn't, shall we say, shy about making controversial pronouncements.

Torgo · Feb 13, 2013

Alessandra Kelley said:
Between that lady at HarperCollins suggesting bookstores should charge people for browsing and this, I feel like people in the industry who ought to know better are spreading some godawful ideas about restricting access to books.

The stupid, it burns.

I think Victoria Barnsley may have been thinking out loud - I'm not actually feeling great about jumping to a conclusion based on the Bookseller piece; need to listen to the actual conversation. As to Terry Deary, see above.

MumblingSage · Feb 13, 2013

jeffo20 said:
Damn, those libraries are patient. They clearly understand the value of taking the long view.

My thought exactly.

Some people just like to curl up with a stack of books and watch the world... smolder.

Libraries 'have had their day'...

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