I had the honor of delivering the opening general session address at the Iowa Library Association conference in October, and I was certainly impressed by the persistent power of Iowa librarians (as well as the beauty of Dubuque). The state library still provides strong support despite budget cuts, and the Area Education Agencies (K–12 educational services consortia) are helping to forge a digital future.
That power was again evident in the December 17 announcement that Simon & Schuster would be making an exception to its policy of not selling ebooks to libraries: The 2013 All Iowa Reads book selection, The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson, will be available to libraries on OverDrive beginning January 1.
Within the press release from the Iowa Center for the Book is a hint as to how other groups might achieve success in approaching publishers. All Iowa Reads committee member (and Iowa Center for the Book Coordinator) Robin Martin focused on the need for ebooks to support readers with special needs. “With the changes in the publishing industry, we can no longer depend on large print as an option for special needs readers. Ebooks offer an alternative when users can adjust the size of text to their needs.”
“This is not our policy as a general rule,” said Wendy Sheanin, director of Simon & Schuster’s marketing and adult publishing group, but “I’ve spoken to my colleagues about the impact of The Year We Left Home being chosen for All Iowa Reads.” Martin said she and fellow committee member Nancy Simpson had informed Sheanin, “While we don’t know the exact number of circulations of our selections, we do know that Iowa libraries own 300–400 copies of each of the previous ALL Iowa Reads titles. At least 100 libraries hold AIR book discussions annually.” Marketing aside, Simon & Schuster does not have a large-print edition of The Year We Left Home, according to Sheanin.
Though Martin stopped short of making this a legal issue, I cannot help but wonder how ADA requirements might play out in the selection of a book by a state agency.