Libraries See The Ebook Glass As Half Full

According to a panel of experts assembled by the American Library Association’s Digital Content Working Group (DCWG) at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston, the ebook glass is half full. Libraries have reasons to be optimistic about the ebook future, though this optimism is tempered by warnings to keep the pressure on publishers, vendors, and ourselves to produce a coherent user experience. It’s no secret that we’re not there yet.

The panel was hosted by DCWG cochairs Erika Linke, associate dean of Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, and Carolyn Anthony, director of the Skokie (Ill.) Public Library. The panelists were Mark Kuyper, executive director of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG); Andrew Albanese, senior writer and features editor for Publishers Weekly (PW); and Kelvin Watson, chief innovation and technology officer, Queens (N.Y.) Library.