Austin Public Library Requests Better E-book Services For Our Customers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2012
Contact: Kanya Lyons | (512) 974-7379

The Austin Public Library has joined 70 other libraries across the United States and Canada in an initiative to request better e-book services for our customers. Currently, it is impossible to check availability, number of copies, or place holds on e-books in FindIt, the Austin Public Library's catalog. E-book distributors force customers to go to a separate website which they control to borrow and download e-books owned by the library. It is an unnecessarily complicated process that can lead to confusion and frustration for many customers. For example, if you search the library catalog for the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, you get a list that includes the print book, the audiobook on CD, and the film on DVD and Blu-ray, but none of the downloadable versions. To find downloadable e-books and e-audiobooks, publishers force the user to leave the library catalog and search for the title on a different web page with a different interface. Library customers want to see all the materials available with one quick and easy search in the catalog. The Austin Public Library has aligned itself with other public libraries to request that publishers allow us to provide our customers with a seamless service that includes easy access to e-books. For more information please visit readersfirst.org.