Meeting Minutes for 09/24/2019

E-Content Committee Meeting
09/24/2019
Minutes

Macmillan boycott / letter / other (Liz)

• Starting November 1st, Macmillan is going to count the Marmot consortium as one library to purchase one copy of their eBook for the first 8 weeks.
• Alysa and Haley shared that ALA just started a petition against Macmillan. The site has FAQs and information: https://ebooksforall.org/
• Liz suggested that if people could calculate how many items they would normally purchase they could use this to show Macmillan the loss of immediate revenue.
• Alysa ran the numbers for her library, and it was not a lot of books or revenue.
• Alysa mentioned that with the ALA campaign and talking with OverDrive that it might be best to turn this around from looking at it from the negative point of view, which is loss of access, to saying that libraries actually contribute to the publishing ecosystem. Libraries will prove this by doing this campaign for https://ebooksforall.org/ and well as  http://ilovelibraries.org/libraries-transform-book-pick.
• Alysa is not saying we cannot write a letter to the publisher expressing their displeasure, but monetarily it did not amount to enough. There were enough titles that Alysa did not want to boycott Macmillan.
• Action Item: Liz suggested if libraries wanted to compile the numbers, they can send them to her. She will put something together and send it out to the group.
• People could also sign the https://ebooksforall.org/ petition. Oliver noted that they currently have 37,221 signatures. They may listen if enough people sign. Since the meeting, there are now 65,933 signatures.
• Liz mentioned an interesting article in the Library Journal about this Macmillan issue. The article had a really great infographic that showed that libraries really do drive book sales.
• Pascal shared this article. Diane shared an article on the front page of the September 24, 2019, Denver post. Shana shared this article.
• Liz’s major concern is that if this embargo does happen the group is going to have to find a different way to purchase that item then our current model using Advantage Plus. Alysa pointed out in another meeting that the first library who purchases the title, their patrons will be the only ones who will get the title.
• Liz mentioned the group may have to go back to shared purchases.
• Genevieve would prefer to hold off on going back to shared purchases, and either holding off for 8 weeks until we could all purchase, or some other equitable purchasing agreement.
• Action item: Liz suggested that this topic of how to purchase Macmillan titles be discussed at the October 8th meeting.
• Alysa hopes that come November that Macmillan changes its mind. If they do not, she thinks we will have to go back to a shared purchase model for the Macmillan titles. She suggested that the group has to have a decision at the October meeting about how the group is going to handle purchasing. Perhaps Marmot can allow a billing pool and report to the committee that they have to come up with XYZ dollars, and split the total among all the libraries. As far as holding off purchases, this would be very difficult to explain to patrons. We should write letters to Macmillan as librarians, but Alysa does not think we should boycott their materials. All we can do is continue to show our worth to our communities. 
• Bud Werner is using the library transformed site (this is ALA’s effort to show how valuable libraries are to the communities. It is a one-book reading concept). Between October 7th & October 21st, the eBook, After the Flood, will be available for simultaneous use on OverDrive for book clubs to be able to feature this particular book. Bud Werner is going to announce the book on their newspaper, and ask their patrons to visit eBooks for All to sign the petition.   
  • Alysa suggests that if the group comes up with some equitable choice on how to purchase the Macmillan eBooks, people can go into the holds list and explain to patrons why your library cannot buy down the holds list and ask patrons to sign the petition that lets Macmillan know how upset they are about their loss of access. The group has this portal that they can point patrons, so their voices can be heard.
• Adam suggested that Pika records could include the date of the embargo, the reason the embargo is in place, and a link to the https://ebooksforall.org/ site.
• Action Item: The item record will include the date of the embargo, the reason the embargo is in place, and a link to the https://ebooksforall.org/ site in all Pika sites. (Thanks, Pascal!)

Blackstone Audio Embargo Wrap-Up (Liz)

• Haley wrote the letter for the embargo.
• The group needed to change the wording, so the letter is coming from the specific libraries that are participating, and not from Marmot as a group.
• Liz proposed that the wording is changed, and go forward sending the letter to Blackstone.
• Genevieve wrote the letter that each library will send out to their patrons.
• The letter for the patrons is for each library to change the wording slightly to speak to their patrons.
• Haley can send her letter straight to Blackstone and OverDrive.
• Genevieve needs to make the final changes to the patron letter and will send it out to the group.

Blackstone discussion @ MUG (Liz)

• The person who suggested having a discussion at MUG about Blackstone was not at the meeting to explain the reason for the meetup.

 Playaway Launchpad - Possible Consortium Arrangement (Adam)

• Adam spoke with a representative of Playaway at CALCON.
• Looking at the launchpad devices, Adam feels like that is a service that Marmot could look into developing a group rate for purchasing the launchpads.  
• Before starting a conversation with Playaway, Adam wanted to see which libraries would be interested.
• If your library did not respond to Adam’s email about a group purchase of launchpads, you still can reply to the email.
• Adam also talked about the 360 evaluation where there was a desire for more cooperative purchasing and shared collections for electronic content for Marmot. The Alliance and CLiC provide a number of resources as well.
• In order for Marmot to help grow what we can provide or negotiate on your behalf, libraries should contact Marmot before they sign a contract with a vendor.
• If there are vendors that libraries are interested in their products, please bring it to the E-Content Committee (ECC). The ECC is the perfect venue for making Marmot aware of the content. Marmot can see what they can do for members, or see what CLiC may have in terms of their contracts with certain vendors. You can also direct vendors to Adam or Tammy, so they can see if there is something that Marmot can do on your behalf.
• Liz had questions about the launchpads.  
  • Are we talking about purchasing them for individual libraries not to share, but to just get a discount on the purchase price, or are we talking about getting a discount on purchases, and then sharing them?
  • Adam did not have a particular model in mind. His initial thought was to have a discount on the purchase of the tablet device itself. Instead of everyone paying the listed price, that Marmot could put together a pool to be purchased in a given timeframe. The savings would be passed on to all the members. 
  • Adam thinks the concept of sharing the devices and the content that is on those devices is intriguing.
  • Liz mentioned that the launchpads are not very durable, so she would be concerned about sending them through the courier.
  • Liz also mentioned that Playaway did mention to them that if they purchased 10 launchpads, they could get them for $100 each, so they will probably do that for anybody. Liz thinks they are a great product. 

Next meeting is on October 8 at 1 p.m.

• Agenda Item: Group discussion on how to purchase the one Macmillan title for the first 8 weeks.