Two major publishers won't let public libraries get access to their e-books until months after publication, and another publisher has eliminated libraries' perpetual rights to digital books.

At the same time that a national touring "digital" bookmobile visited Morrow County last week, Columbus Metropolitan Library officials were being warned about new publishers' pricing models that could limit public access to digital books.

The bookmobile was parked outside the Perry Cook Memorial Public Library near Mount Gilead on Thursday and Friday to promote public access to digital reading, audiobooks and electronic publishing tools.

On Thursday, by coincidence, Columbus Metropolitan Library board trustees received a memo warning about "a disturbing shift away from full buying access for libraries."

Laura Simonds, the library system's collection services manager, wrote about the decision by two major publishers to embargo newly released titles for up to four months before public libraries get access, and another publisher's decision to eliminate libraries' perpetual ownership of digital books.

Publisher Macmillan "shared their belief that library e-book lending has a 'direct and adverse' effect on (their) retail e-book sales," she wrote.

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The friction comes as libraries continue to evolve from cramped buildings lined with bookshelves to spacious multipurpose community centers with increasing demand for computers, digital books, movies and music. The country has an estimated 172 million library cardholders, according to the American Library Association; the Columbus library system has almost 670,000 active cardholders.

Of the Columbus system's $8 million materials budget, 21% is devoted to electronic materials, a fourfold increase from seven years ago, Simonds said.

She said of the publishers' decisions: "If we continue to see these changes, it will erode our buying power and our ability to provide a robust collection of materials."

About three years ago, Penguin Random House became the last major publisher to make its e-book catalog available for libraries to buy, easing concern among public libraries. Long-established licensing agreements require libraries to check out e-books just like traditional books, one copy at a time. And new, best-selling titles were treated no differently, until now.

The Washington D.C.-based Urban Libraries Council called the latest changes "a disturbing trend, as these actions deny access to new titles based on an individual’s ability or willingness to pay ... in direct opposition to the core value of public libraries in providing equitable access to information for all."

The changes could encourage other publishers to do the same, said Patricia Dollisch, director of the Perry Cook Memorial library. She is especially worried about paying for materials that would expire after a set period.

"I'm always concerned about us buying stuff that we don't own," Dollisch said. "I don't know of any librarian that would be happy about it.

"Publishers have historically been wary of us because they would prefer to sell more copies."

Simonds thinks that libraries, even a 23-branch system like in Columbus, should not be viewed as a threat to publishers.

"We are helping publishers grow and promote their materials," she said. "We don't want them to go out of business. But providing books, especially to those who can't afford them, is the bedrock of our principles."

Dollisch agrees: "We are the playing-field levelers, open to all ... even if you can barely scrape together the $1 to replace a library card, you are welcome here."

dnarciso@dispatch.com

@DeanNarciso

An updated version of this story corrected the number of branches in the Columbus Metropolitan Library system.