E-books catch on at public library

2012-07-09 17:41

分享到

 

Get Flash Player

Download

Complete the following sentence:

"You go to the library to check out...?"

The obvious answer is "books." But a harder question might be, "What do we mean by 'book'?"

Electronic books or "e-books," have established a firm foothold in American society.

The big online bookseller Amazon, for instance, recently announced that less than four years after introducing them to its catalog, it's now selling more electronic versions of its book titles than printed ones.

E-books catch on at public library

And this past April, Encyclopedia Britannica, the world's oldest and largest maker of encyclopedias - a staple at any library - announced it would no longer publish a print edition.

Last week, the Pew Internet & American Life Project released a survey about the use of e-books by library patrons. It found that 12 percent of Americans age 16 and older who read e-books say they had borrowed at least one from a library within the past year.

But the survey found that the broader public, including 58 percent of those who have library cards and 53 percent of people who own electronic book readers, are not aware that they can find and check out e-books from public libraries, even though three-quarters of the libraries offer that service.

E-books catch on at public library

Pew Internet Project director Lee Rainie noted that e-book borrowing is becoming more popular at the same time that publishers - who are selling plenty of e-books and fewer hard-copy editions - are worried that free e-book check-outs at the library will hurt sales.

In February, for instance, the big publisher Penguin Books stopped supplying new e-books and audio books to libraries.

Penguin just reached an agreement to resume supplying one big library system - in New York City - but not until six months after they are released. That way, those who want the latest books will have to buy them.

So things are a little murky in the library world when it comes to electronic books.

More and more patrons want them, but publishers are giving the libraries a hard time about offering them. Demand's not the problem. Supply may soon be.

Related stories:

US brings case against Apple and five book publishers over electronic books

Spock parenting book gets online update

E-readers, tablets to end print era

Amazon launches e-book lending for libraries

(来源:VOA 编辑:旭燕)

 

分享到

中国日报网英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“中国日报网英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883561联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。

中国日报网双语新闻

扫描左侧二维码

添加Chinadaily_Mobile
你想看的我们这儿都有!

中国日报双语手机报

点击左侧图标查看订阅方式

中国首份双语手机报
学英语看资讯一个都不能少!

关注和订阅

本文相关阅读
人气排行
热搜词
 
 
精华栏目
 

阅读

词汇

视听

翻译

口语

合作

 

关于我们 | 联系方式 | 招聘信息

Copyright by chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved. None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. 版权声明:本网站所刊登的中国日报网英语点津内容,版权属中国日报网所有,未经协议授权,禁止下载使用。 欢迎愿意与本网站合作的单位或个人与我们联系。

电话:8610-84883645

传真:8610-84883500

Email: languagetips@chinadaily.com.cn