Presentatie van Mikkel Christoffersen, Hoofdbibliotheek Kopenhagen, over e-books in de Deense bibliotheken.

1. eReolen – the Danish, national
e-lending platform
Mikkel Christoffersen, senior adviser
Copenhagen Libraries and ”eReolen”
Copenhagen, June 17, 2016

2. Copenhagen libraries
• 330 library staff
• 580.000 inhabitants, 195.000
cardholders
• 4,6 million visits, 3,6 million loans
• 5.4 million web visits
• 21 locations
• Libraries merged with ”cultural houses”,
school libraries or citizen service centres
• Most Libraries open from 8-22
• Some of the time without staff
• Citizen's use their health card and a pin
code to access the institution
• CCT-surveillance

3. Copenhagen Main library
Key figures
– 850.000 visits
– 700.000 loans
– 610.000 copies in
collection
– 160 events
– 80 staff
– Operating costs
• Total 8 mil. euro
• Rent 2,4 mil. euro
• Staff 5 mil. euro

4. Modernisation of the main library
• Started in 2010
• Implemented in 3 stages
• Total cost 6 mil. euro
– The library is opened towards the city
and expanded with cafe area (the
meeting space)
– A new learning space on the 3. floor
(the learning space)
– More places for study
– Upgraded event area(the performative
space)
– New exhibition areas - digital, tweens
area and literature area (inspiration
space)

5. What is eReolen?
• eReolen is the Danish public libraries’ joint
ebook and digital audio books service
• It’s an association with all Danish public
libraries as members, an organisation with
lots of paid and voluntary employees, and a
web site and Android and iOS apps
• There are 9,500 ebooks and 4,200 digital
audio books
• 250+ publishers supply the material

6. Setup
PublisherPublisher Datawell
Selection OPAC eReolen
Publizon
Stores
National
Bibliography
An offer to
libraries
Publishers’ jointly
owned portal
Librarians’ committee

7. The association ”eReolen”
Board
Editorial
group
Support Selection
Project
coordination Negotiation
team
General assembly

16. Lending models
1. One-copy one-user: We have four loans per
license. Purchase and management is national
as are the reservation queues.
2. One-copy multiple-users: The bread and
butter of our platform. Fixed prices based on
age or length of audio book and there are local
restrictions.
3. Free-for-all: We pay once for all or part of a
publisher’s catalogue. It is then free to loan for
everybody without local restrictions.

17. Prices (€1 = 7,5 DKK)
• For all loans: 1,75 DKK to eReolen, 2,25
DKK to Publizon
• Licenses: Retail price for 4 loans. 1 loan
costs retail price / 4. E.g. a license is 100
DKK; each loan is 25 + 4 DKK.
• Click: Fixed priced based on age. 0-6
months 14,50 DKK, 7-24 months 13,00
DKK, 24+ months 10,50 DKK (+ 4 DKK all)
• Subscription: Still experimental. Libraries
pay one sum for some part of a publisher’s
catalogue. Price is based on this years use.

18. The license model
• Invented by HarperCollins in the US
• One copy one user with a set amount of loans
• Harper-Collins 26, in Denmark 4(!)
• Denmark may have the most liberal ebook
models but they are also the most expensive!
• Mimics a physical book and with a fixed loan
period
• Librarians were wrong about the model initially

19. HarperCollins quiz
• Librarians predicted that the Harper-Collins
model would exhaust the 26 loans* very
quickly and bankrupt the library buying new
licenses. However, after more than 18
months only eight titles were exhausted.
Seven of them were by the same author.
Who?

20. Agatha Christie!
Only the Bible and Shakespeare
have been published in more
editions
1 bn. Sold in English. Another
billion in non-English
HarperCollins bought the rights
in 2010

21. Local restrictions
• Libraries have an administration hub to put in
local restrictions; money spent, number of
simultaneous loans etc.
• The system checks local user data and
permissions when the user logs in

22. Models in a book’s lifecycle
Demand
Time
License
Click
Subscription

23. Use of models

24. The effect of 1C1U

25. Explicit models

26. History
2011-12
• eReolen opens with
aid from the ministry
• All libraries and all
publishers participate
• Model is one-copy
multiple-user
• Big Publishers pull out
citing cata-strophic
summer sales
2013-14
• Big publishers make
their own portal EBIB
• One-copy one-user
• eReolen keeps on and
EBIB languishes then
closes
• Negotiations to re-
fusion w. hybrid model
• Deal for 2015 with all

27. 2012 eReolen2012 eReolen

29. What killed EBIB?

30. History
2015
• Hybrid model works
• Huge success
• eReolen promotes the
back catalogue
• Bestsellers suffer(!)
• Audio books explode
for real
• Many big publishers
are worried again
Loans
Titles

31. 2016
• 5 of the 6 biggest
publishers pull
out. The biggest
digital publisher
(Lindhardt &
Ringhof) stay!
• They pull out of
audio books too
• eReolen loses
3,000 e-books
and 1,000 audio
books or 25% and
20%
• We’re now looking
to re-negotiate –
again! 

32. A bestseller author:
”It has become way
too attractive to be a
library e-lending
user.”
”When they can’t get
to my books, they
just borrow
something else!”
A literary agent:
”It’s difficult to move
new titles when the
library pukes the
back catalogue out
over everybody!”
2015 in the newspapers:

33. Golden rules
#1
Nothing is
strong
enough to
promote itself
in a digital
world
#2
What
librarians do is
just as
important in a
digital world –
if not more
#3
We cannot
control or even
predict what
publishers will
do – only what
we will do

34. Golden goals
#1
Don’t just
offer e-
lending. Offer
a literary
environment.
#2
Integrate said
environment
with the rest
of the
library’s
business
#3
Watch trends,
cultivate new
friendships
work with
new partners

35. A literary environment

36. Integration with OPAC

37. Integration w. social media

38. Times are a-changing!
E-books loans per user Audio books loans per user

39. Loans vs. Catalogue by age of
audio book

41. Trends
• Audio books are exploding slowly(?!) all
over Europe – Denmark is no different
• Audio books are less title-driven than
ordinary books, and among ordinary books
e-books are less title-driven than physical
books
• Is reading per se on the decline?
• What on earth is happening in publishing?

42. Attempts at trendspotting
• eReolen for Children: Special site with their
school log-in, tons of information and
promotion, social media integration and
integration with the national kids’ site (co-
funded Denmark’s Digital Library)
• Collaboration with the selfpublishers –
making the library more of a ”place of
literature” – reading AND writing (funded by
the Agency of Culture and Castles)

43. Age and gender

44. User survey
• 935 users answer a
questionnaire
• Focus groups with
<30 yo. and >30 yo.
users resectively as
well as non-users in
two cities
• Focus on use and
evaluating the service
and the promotion,
use of social media
and communication in
general

45. Digitisation
• We want to transform the library in step with
the changing reading habits of users
• This requires ebooks and a digitally available
back catalogue
• No digital lending rights and changing policies
from publishers
• We have two models: Collaboration with
publishers for newer works. Collective
agreements or collaboration for the older
works.

46. The potential

47. Thank you 
Comments, questions, threats, fan-mail to:
Mikkel Christoffersen
c45c@kff.kk.dk
Mob. +45 2049 1885