plainville.TheSunChronicle.com

Increase attributed to store closings, e-books

BY MONA ZECEVIC FOR THE SUN CHRONICLE

Things are busier at the Mansfield Public Library since Borders bookstores at Mansfield Crossing closed.

"The store was so close to us, so I think people are coming here instead," Assistant Library Director Kitty Schacht said.

Schacht reports an increase in circulation at the library, especially in adults with young children.

"Kids are coming to the library for projects and book reports," she said.

But the Borders bankruptcy has presented another big change for libraries. Schacht notes that among adults there has been an increase in the demand for e-books.

According to figures released by the Association of American Publishers, e-book revenues in 2011 were up by 117.3 percent from the previous year, while revenues from print copies of adult books decreased by almost 33 percent.

"The Kindle was the Christmas present of the year," Taunton Library Director Susanne Duquette said.

Duquette does not attribute any change in circulation to Borders closing. Instead, she said circulation at the Taunton library is increasing because of e-books.

Plainville Library Director Melissa Campbell has also noted the e-book trend, but said there is a problem for libraries offering free downloads of e-books.

She said four of six major publishers have pulled their works from e-book catalogs. Among them are the Millin Publishing Group, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group and Penguin Group.

A petition on change.org asks those publishers to find better working relationships with libraries.

"The irony here is Borders and Barnes & Noble have squeezed out smaller bookstores, and now Amazon has squeezed them out," Seekonk Public Library Director Peter Fuller said.

He said the trouble with books and e-books is the pricing. You can't sell each one for $9.99.

"It's a Wild West out there, and libraries are stuck in the middle," Fuller said.

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