1 . Like a tired marriage, the relationship between libraries and publishers has long been dull. E-books, however, are causing heartache. Libraries know they need digital services, but many publishers are too cautious about piracy and lost sales to co-operate. Among the big six publishers, only Random House and Harper Collins license e-books with most libraries.
Publishers are wise to be nervous. Owners of e-readers are exactly the customers they need: book-lovers with money. If these people switch to borrowing e-books instead of buying them, what then? Electronic borrowing is awfully convenient. Unlike printed books, which must be checked out and returned to a physical library miles away, book files can be downloaded at home. The files disappear from the device when they are due.
E-lending is not simple, however. There are various incompatible e-book formats, devices and licenses. Most libraries use a company called OverDrive, which secures rights from publishers and provides e-books and audio files in every format. Yet publishers and libraries are worried by OverDrive’s global market dominance, as the company can control fees and conditions. Publishers were annoyed when OverDrive cooperated with Amazon the world’s biggest online bookseller, last year. Owners of Amazon’s Kindle e-reader who want to borrow e-books from libraries are now redirected to Amazon’s website.
According to Pew, an opinion researcher, library users are a perfect market for Amazon. Late last year Amazon introduced is Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which lets its best customers borrow free one of thousands of popular books each month. But a recent Pew survey found that more than half of Americans with library cards say they prefer to buy their e-books It also noted that e-books actually are available at most libraries, and that popular titles often involve long waiting lists, which may inspire people to buy.
So publishers keep adjusting their lending arrangements in search of the right balance. Random House raised its licensing price earlier this year, and Harper Collins limits libraries to lending its titles 26 times. The story of the library e-book is a nail-biter.
1. It can be inferred from Paragraph 1 that ______.| A．several big publishers have sold e-books to libraries |
| B．both libraries and publishers caution the e-book piracy |
| C．some publishers are hesitant to cooperate with libraries |
| D．libraries are eager to keep strong relationship with publishers |
| A．The risk of e-book piracy. |
| B．The possible decline of book sales. |
| C．No time limit for the downloaded book files. |
| D．The availability of the incompatible e-book formats. |
| A．Amazon is adopting measures to win more customers |
| B．OverDrive distributes e-books and audio files to publishers |
| C．over half of Americans are borrowing e-books from libraries |
| D．the fees of lending e-books are under the control of publishers |
