Another step backward

Libraries are finding that their patrons, just like other readers, are looking more and more for ebook formats. Over the past year, there has been a sharp growth in the provision of ebooks in libraries. But now, once again, a publisher is pulling back and trying to turn the clock back to the days of all-print. Penguin publishing announced it would no longer make its new books available for borrowing in libraries. The reason given was a vague worry about security, but no one I've talked to can figure out what that worry would be. The more likely reason is a specific worry about sales of books. That's a legitimate concern, publishers after all are in business to make money, but many of them seem determined to ignore what the public wants. Most likely the average reader will not buy the Penguin ebook but will look for another book from a different publisher to borrow from the library. We don't live in a world where many people can afford to buy all the books they would like to read. That's why public libraries are becoming more popular week by week. Instead of pulling all its books from the library market, Penguin should try to work out a model that would give a fair profit to writers and publishers without making most books inaccessible to the audience that wants to read them. This is especially important for the youthful readers who cannot possibly purchase books for themselves. Very few families buy books for their children, not with the prices being charged by publishers. Libraries are the major source most children have for reading materials. Let's not cut down on the supply but work to increase it. Publishers and librarians both stand to gain from an increase in reading. Let's work together to make it possible to fill the need for good books.

Are you ready for the future?

Everyone is talking about the future of the book, although no one knows for sure what it will be. Clearly the digital format is growing exponentially, while print production thrives at a lower pace. Sometimes it's helpful to step back and look at the overall picture of what this means rather than just pour on more information about the percentage of books being purchased or borrowed from libraries in digital formats. A good place to go for thoughtful, long form ruminations on the underlying changes in the concept of books is the @craigmod blog. For an indepth look at what the change in formats may mean to writers and readers, take a look at his post about the stages of book production from pre-artifact to post-artifact. Writing a book has always been a slow and usually solitary pursuit. Someone gets an idea and struggles to find the words to explain it to others. After writing, revising, re-revising, showing it to a few friends, the writer sends it to an agent or an editor at a publishing house. Then if the powers of publishing agree to take it on, the writer sits back (or more likely writes another book updating that one) for two years or so until the final product--a book--is eventually produced. Not until then do readers get a chance to look at the book, share the writers ideas, and possibly comment and argue about them. Much of that long, slow process is being swept away in the digital age. New publishing processes make it possible for the writer to share ideas with an audience during the writing process. Arguments and questions can be raised even before the "publishing" process begins. More and more books are growing out of blogs on which readers and potential readers have already commented and showed interest. Once the book is finalized and published in a digital format, the interactivity continues. In fact "finalized" is becoming an obsolete term. The librarian's beloved format of the "stable text" is disappearing. Corrections can be made in mid-flight from typos to major revisions and the book that existed last week has given way to a new text. Craig Mod uses the example of Wikipedia as a post-artifact encyclopedia compared with Encarta, trapped in a shining, rigid CD format.

What do these changes mean to those of us who have dedicated our careers to having the perfect package for a book--an artifact carefully written, illustrated, and printed in exactly the format envisioned by its creator? Children are perhaps the greatest fans of the stable text. Try changing a word of "Peter Rabbit" to a storyhour group of literate children and you will be shouted down. Already we have Peter Rabbit apps that make the pictures move, shrink, and expand. Do we want to ask children to change the words too? Don't answer "No" too quickly. It's a reasonable question. Certainly interactivity and flexibility are important in today's world. Librarians along with everyone else have to consider the advantages gained by having a community of writers and readers. We shouldn't blindly worship the artifacts of our childhood or of our children's childhood. The world seems to spin faster every year and the only way to keep up is to welcome new ideas, to adopt the strengths and always to question the received wisdom of our collective past.

Some days bring despair

For many of us who have spent years trying to bring books and reading to children our calling has become almost a religion. We encourage each other with stories about how children's lives are enriched by the books we introduce them to and the stories they enjoy in our libraries. Now along comes the scandal of Three Cups of Tea the "true story" of a man who devoted years of his life to raising money for schools in Afghanistan. A "60 Minutes" broadcase recently revealed this as not quite the story we thought it was. The schools were not enriched by all the money spent on the book--the author was. A dedicated blogger in Publishers Weekly has expressed the feeling that many of us had when hearing this story. As Barbaara Vey points out, not only were adults fooled by this book, but they bought numerous copies of it for children's collections and school libraries. Many teachers assigned it to their classes (many of whom, according to Vey, found it boring) and now all this pushing of the book only reveals the naivete of adults. Children forced to read it are learning not compassion for third world peoples, but scorn for the adults who can't distinguish between truth and fiction. That's a sure way to turn young readers away from books. We stand revealed as false guides in the world of truth and education. It's enough to make us weep. Let's hope it is also enough to make publishing companies push a little harder to determine the accuracy of what they are publishing, and reviewers to be a little more sceptical of do-gooders who write "memorirs" of their good deeds. We owe it to our children and to the future.

What about the universal library?

Big news in the literary world this week is the rejection of the settlement between Google and the Authors Guild over the development of the universal library. Even though he rejected the arrangement, the judge emphasized the value of having someone develop a facility where most of the world's English language literature could be found online. The New York Times today published an op ed piece by Robert Darnton advocating a public institution to collect and make available access to these books. Children's librarians may feel far removed from this argument, because most of the books being scanned are meant for adults. It won't be long though until someone realizes that we have a wealth of important classic children's books that should be preserved in digital format and made available to adults and children alike. With more and more children finding their favorite reading on their iphones or iPads, digital books for children and young adult are a growing format. Librarians should keep a careful watch on what is happening to the Google settlement and what arrangements are being made to protect the heritage that belongs to all of us.

Death of a legend

We are getting close to the 100th anniversary of the great explosion of growth in children's publishing and children's libraries that started in the 1920s and hit its stride in the 1950s. Every year we lose another of the pioneers from the early pre-WWII days who left their stamp on both professions. Margaret K. McElderry, who started her career as a children's librarian, became one of the best known and most honored editors in the field. Both the N.Y. Times and SLJ paid tribute to her this week for her work in developing children's authors and illustrators throughout her career. She had a strong conviction of the importance of children's books, knowing that unless individuals become readers early in life, they are unlikely to ever follow that path. She chose carefully and published only books that she found worthwhile, but she allowed authors and illustrators to try out new formats and new content. For more than fifty years she was a leader in producing remarkable books for generations of children. She trained many younger editors, let's hope they will be able to continue the tradition despite the pressures of these difficult times.

Where are children's apps going?

Children's publishing is changing so quickly that even the publishers can't keep up with it. At the Digital Book World conference recently, some of the leading producers of children's apps talked about their works. As reported by Calvin Reid in Publishers Weekly, their work will greatly impact libraries, although there is no mention of this in the story. Children's books are moving off the printed page and into a world of apps where the stories will be told in a combination of video, animation, audio and text. These stories, which are available on many mobile media, are already attracting many parents and children will certainly grow in appeal. From the readers' point-of-view the sound and movement that augment the text are the most important aspects of the new form. From the producers' point-of-view, the ability to update the apps and to track usage are equally attractive. Why is this so important for librarians? One reason is that libraries had better learn to compete with this competition by offering attractive books as well as apps for young children. Another, equally important reason, is that in this fast-growing field, librarians have important expertise to share. We are the specialists in what children enjoy listening to and sharing. For generations librarians have turned static books into lively experiences through storyhours. In the early 1920s when the children's book industry was gathering strength in the book world, children's librarians like Anne Carroll Moore influenced publishing trends by reviewing books and calling on publishers to meet children's needs. Where are the Anne Carroll Moores of today? Now is the time for library journals to take apps seriously and offer full reviews of the best of them. Rick Richter, one of the producers quoted in the article maintains that of the approximately 30,000 children's apps now available "about 27,000 of them are horrible". It's time for the industry to take into account the expertise of teachers and librarians as well as book publishers to develop standards for excellence in children's apps. Perhaps it is time for ALA to set up a new prize category.

The future of textbooks?

January has been a busy month for librarians. Not only were a lot of new books unveiled at ALA's Midwinter meetings, but tech news kept coming out too. One of the products that's causing the most buzz is a tablet e-reader designed to replace textbooks. Take a look at the story in the LA Times and also take a look at the video of how a textbook appears on the Kno. Although the designers appear to be looking at the college market right now, it's also clear that textbooks for high school and elementary school could easily appear on this format. In fact Jon Bard of Write 4 Children predicts that the future of children's publishing is likely to lie in the use of a tablet like Kno. The double screen allows it to be opened like a book, a feature that is comforting to book readers and protects the screen. The full-color illustrations rival anything that can be produced on paper and for textbooks, information can be quickly updated. Many textbook producers are planning to make some of their content available for testing on the Kno. Libraries should keep watching this trend.

Are publishers keeping up?

The exhibits floor at ALA's Midwinter Meeting in San Diego were crowded last weekend with librarians looking for the latest offerings. Everything from library furniture to databases, publicity materials, and of course books were on display. Children's librarians could look at demos of a dazzling database that could help a high school student choose a career, and an amazingly flexible version of the OED for research-minded teachers. But children's publishers were sticking to tried-and-true paper formats. There were many graphic novels, but no sign of the apps that are changing children's experiences of books. Those of us who flew to the conference city were able to see children in the airport and on the plane looking at small screens that showed familiar children's stories, but these were nowhere to be seen at the exhibits. Have the mainstream publishers we have relied on for years let us down? No one wants to give up books and it is still a delight to see the many beautifully written, illustrated and designed books, but it is not enough. We have to go where the children and their parents are heading--toward small screens that can carry a dozen picture books on a pocket-sized screen. Librarians, especially those who work in large library systems or school districts, should use their clout to tell publisher that we want to see the best of children's books made available on many platforms. Sure it will be difficult to work out the details--the rights, the royalties, the new skills that must be developed--but publishers should be looking toward the future. If John Newbery were around today he wouldn't be looking at hornbooks, he'd be designing for the i-Pad. Let's get our modern day publishers to catch up with the 21st century world.

Prizes worth considering

The major event of Monday's award ceremony at the ALA conference was the awarding of the Caldecott and Newbery medals, but librarians are not content with two prizes. There are too many good books published each year for us to limit ourselves. One of the most important awards is the Coretta Scott King award and this year the author award went to "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia published by Armistad. It was a crowd favorite and cheers erupted when the award was announced. If you don't have it in your library yet, be sure to order soon. The Coretta Scott King illustrator's award went to "Dave the Potter: Artist,Poet, Slave" written by Laban Carrick Hill and illustrated by Bryan Collier (Little Brown). The unusual glimpse of a 19th century African American who put his talent to good use will make many children dream of possibilities for themselves. Teachers as well as children will love this one. And speaking of teachers, we mustn't forget one of the newest of the ALSC awards--the Theodor Seuss Geisel award for an easy reading book. This year it went to "Bink and Gollie" by Kate DiCamillo, published by Candlewick. Even the title will bring a smile to the face of a young child struggling with reading, and the story will win over the most reluctant learner. Almost all libraries have standing orders for the Newbery and Caldecott winners, but these aren't the only ones that should be automatically bought when the awards come out. This year's crop of winners presents a strong field of varied books--something for every child who comes to your library. Don't forget to promote them them at storyhours and during school visits. These are books that adults should see to understand the face of children's publishing today.

Exciting year ahead

For children's librarians, 2011 opened with a buzz of news about new books, new ebooks, apps for libraries, and endless stories about how publishing is changing. At the same time that libraries around the country are running Mock Newbery contests to vote on which book will win the coveted medal next week, librarians, authors and publishers are wondering whether children's books have a future. Over the past few months we have seen stories in the New York Times about the death, or near-death, of picture books as a staple part of young children's lives, we have heard about and probably sampled the iPad app of Alice in Wonderland that has set new standards for pictorial beauty and interactive innovation, and most of us have listened to complaints from grandparents and others about how children don't read the old books any more. What does all of this mean for children's library services? Will library collections change drastically as children read ebooks on iPads or one of the other ubiquitous tablet ereaders? Should we shift our print budget to ebooks? What about the youngsters who still prefer print on paper? And more important, what about the parents and other taxpayers who see no need for a library when their children seem totally uninterested in traditional books? In these bad economic times we don't want to make big mistakes with the money entrusted to us, but can anyone tell us what the future holds?

Probably no one knows what actually will happen, and predictions are notoriously bad, but the American Library Association conference starting tomorrow in San Diego, CA, will at least address some of the questions from a library point of view. I am eager to get there to attend some of the meetings and listen to the opinions of other librarians. Equally important, I'll be spending a lot of time going around the exhibits to see what publishers are offering. These are the people who are already making guesses about the future. How do they read the tealeaves? I hope to find out as much as I can and will report some of my findings here during the next week or so.

What do publishers think of blogs?

Librarians should give a lot of thought to publishers so we can understand what makes them produce the books they do, rather than the books we would like them to publish. One good insight into how publishers think comes from this interview with a John Wiley rep at the recent BlogWorld conference. Although she is focusing on aspiring writers rather than on librarians, she gives good advice about what publishers are thinking about. Publishing a printed book is only one of many outlets for producing information these days, so writers, publishers, and purchasers of materials have to think about which platforms are going to be of interest to their potential readers. Although this interview focuses on publishing for adults, children's publishers are also following this trail, especially for nonfiction material. They ask questions like--Will children want to read this in a picture book, would it work better in a graphic format? Should be plan to release a version for the iPad or other ebook format? Those decisions are going to affect the way the writers and illustrators design the information and present it to children. Some librarians may want to cling to the old idea that all good information comes in print, but that's just not true any more. We have to listen to voices from the tech field and the publishing industry to find out where the best information for the future will be found. It's a challenging task, but let's admit it's also fun to be cool and tech savvy.

A study to watch for

Although the full report hasn't yet been released, Scholastic's survey of 2000 children about their attitudes toward e-books seems to have some interesting tidbits. According to a N.Y. Times report today, the report shows that not very many kids have access to e-books, but they would like to read e-books. Many of them say they would read for fun more often if they had e-book readers and could use those instead of print books. At the same time, they express a liking for the old-fashioned print on paper books--but then, don't adults have the same dual response to e-books? It seems to me most readers enjoy reading e-books for their practical advantages, but the tug of emotional attachment comes from print books that we have read over the years. Probably both formats will survive for many years to come and those of us who are lucky, including libraries, can have the best of both worlds--as long as we can pay the price.

Miss Spider at the Grocery Store

The latest PW article about Digital Publishing for Children makes a good point and one that librarians should note. Buying a book as an iPad or iPhone app does not necessarily mean a family won't buy the same book in print or borrow it from the library. A popular story like "Miss Spider's Tea Party" makes a perfect bedtime read at home when sitting in Mom or Dad's lap is part of the enjoyment, but as an app it can also be enjoyed over and over again sitting in a grocery cart or in a subway car. All librarians and parents know that children love to return again and again to the same story, so why not have it available in convenient format for many occasions? Several publishers believe that owning multiple copies of books in different formats will become an important factor sales. For less affluent families for whom a hardcover children's book is too expensive, a library copy to supplement the inexpensive phone app will be a likely solution. Everyone connected with publishing these days is making predictions about what the future will hold, some will be right, but not all. To catch up on what the industry is thinking, librarians will want to check out the new issue of PW, which also lists the forthcoming books for the fall.

Graphic novels going strong

Kids still love graphic novels, although some publishers find sales are dropping, perhaps as a result of the economic climate. As long as there are good graphic stories available, librarians will continue to buy them because they move quickly in libraries and keep children coming back for more. Lerner has become a leader in providing these books for the school and library market and according to Publishers Weekly has no intention of cutting back. Children are still delighted with stories about King Arthur and Greek gods as well as modern detective stories told in graphic formats. Perhaps it is their grandparents who harbor dim memories of the old Classic Comics who understand best the appeal of mythic heroes in strips of pictures and text. Whatever the reason, the elaborate artistic, and often rather static, illustrations of years past have given way to the stripped-down, action-packed style of comic books of today. Is this a genuine turn in aesthetic taste or a short-lived trend? Only time will tell.

Librarians aren't the only ones

It's not just librarians who are fretting about how far to go in moving their collections toward e-books. What is going to happen to all those people who prefer paper and enjoy the feel of pages turning? A recent article in the N.Y. Times points out that publishers, editors, and readers are just as confusing. Some couples are becoming two-copy families as they purchase both the print and e-book version of a book because they differ on which version they like to read. It seems that for quite a while to come, librarians will have to have two versions of many of their materials (perhaps more than two) in order to satisfy the differing preferences of patrons. With budgets being what they are, this couldn't have come at a worse time.

Writers and illustrators into the future

The Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) met in L.A. last weekend. This gathering of over 1,000 writers, illustrators, editors, and agents is one of the most important in the children's book world. These are the people who produce the content that keeps our public and school libraries going and introduce each new generation of children to the pleasures of reading. As reported in Publishers Weekly, the emphasis this year was on embracing the digital world.The growing trend toward using e-books means that childrens' writers and will have to produce more content than ever and produce it in formats that look good on i-Pads, Kindles, and other e-book readers. Librarians would do well to keep up with the writes and publishers and think more about how to integrate these new materials into all of our libraries.

How much is it worth?

People who read books on Kindle tend to be older adults, including many retired people who are notorious for seeking bargains. Now several publishers have decided to charge more for their e-books than the $9.99 price that has been established on Kindle. According to the N.Y. Times, many furious consumers are leaving nasty evaluations on amazon.com's website and sometimes declaring they will never buy another e-book. This rebellion may not seem to have much to do with children's books, but young people are the next big target audience for many e-book publishers. The imminent appearance of the iPad will make many parents eager to let their children experience books on the brilliant screen. How much will they pay? That's hard to say. Very few parents buy hardcover picture books for children. Can they be lured into buying the e-book version if the price is right? And what about somewhat older children who are fans of the inexpensive paperback series books. How will they be priced? What is the actual cost of producing an e-book? No one knows for sure. The industry is in turmoil now and librarians will have to keep their eyes open to see what is coming next.

New year; old books

The first big news in children's publishing for 2010 is not a new series, but the revival of an old one. Scholastic is bringing back the Baby Sitters' Club books, bestsellers from a generation ago. Ann Martin, who wrote many of the original books has provided a prequel that sets the background for some of the characters, although it's hard to believe thirteen-year-olds have lengthy life histories. The push to revive this series may grow out of parental concern that the new crop of supernatural series books are not quite what they would like to see their daughters reading. Looking back, the Baby Sitters Club seems a wholesome glimpse of real life among girls who dream about cute basketball players more than pallid vampires. Perhaps the tide is turning and librarians, teachers and parents will be able to stop trying to keep up with the deluge of alien visitors from fantasy land.

Revisiting Cinderella

Looking for new books is a natural this time of year as we search for holiday gifts for friends and family.For librarians it's also a time to catch up on the year's books that we've missed during the busy summer and fall. It's been a good year for YA novels in which new young authors experiment with old stories and formats. One of the most unusual approaches to the Cinderella story is Malinda Lo's Ash,which combines a classic Cinderella story with some elements of Irish folklore. The combination works and Publisher's Weekly includes Lo as one of the rising new stars of the YA publishing world. There is something very encouraging to see that as books stream out of publishing houses year after year, some of them repetitive and clearly designed to capture a media sensation of the day, there is still room for a fresh new approach that succeeds. Teens are lucky because so much of the writing talent today is focusing on the YA market where there is still room for innovation and imagination.

New business model for publishing?

Romance writing is a distinct genre and may be seen as quite separate from writing children's books, but the business models are similar. Both of these branches of writing have a well-defined audience and a stable group of authors producing most of the best-selling books. Perhaps less noticed is the fact that both genres also have a huge number of would-be authors hammering at their publishing portals. Harlequin Publishers, which dominates the romance field, has lately taken a highly-debated step into letting their wannabes work under the Harlequin label. The newly-launched imprint Harlequin Horizons (which is being pressured to change its name) allows authors to buy a publishing packet that enables them to publish their own book under a quasi-Harlequin imprint. The publisher would collect the up-front money, but authors will get royalties for the sale of the books, which they must publicize for themselves. Sounds like an ordinary vanity press, doesn't it? That's what the Romance Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America think and they are demanding that Harlequin remove itself from the self-publishing business if it wants to keep its reputation as a respectable publisher. But all publishers of print materials are hard-pressed these days to keep profits high. Will other groups, even perhaps children's book publishers, consider launching similar initiatives? No one publisher dominates children's publishing the way Harlequin does for romance, but a firm like Scholastic is so big it could surely encompass one more arm and make a little extra money from all the slush pile contributors who beg to get in. There's no indication this is happening, but librarians should keep an eye on all branches of publishing. The future may be upon us sooner than we think.