Public Libraries – Tim Jones

Former talkshow host and media consultant Brian Edwards has kicked up a storm with his suggestion that public libraries are just a form of theft. I disagree with him: I think public libraries are great, and I like it when people borrow my books from libraries.

All the same, those borrowings do, potentially, represent foregone income: some of those people might have bought one of my books instead of borrowing a copy from the library. The mechanism that is designed to compensate New Zealand authors for holdings of their books in libraries is called the Author’s Fund, recently renamed the Public Lending Right. I have previously blogged about how it works.

Here are three changes I’d liked to see to the Public Lending Right to make it work better for authors. There may well be valid arguments against all these proposals, and if so, please leave a comment and tell me what those arguments are. I’m keen to know.

1. Payment for borrowings. Currently, the Fund recompenses authors for each copy of a book they have written held in a New Zealand library, with some restrictions, provided at least 50 copies of the book are held in New Zealand libraries. The payment to the author is the same whether the book is never borrowed, or is frequently out on loan. I would like the scheme changed so that there is a basic per-holding fee paid, plus an additional fee per number of times the book is borrowed.

2. Aggregation. Many books, such as poetry collections, do not attain the magic mark of 50 copies held. If you’re in the unfortunate position of having written 10 books, each of which has 49 copies held in New Zealand libraries according to the sampling methodology used to determine such things, you don’t get paid a cent. This seems inequitable to me. I would prefer that, if payment is to be based solely on holdings, then it is the total holdings of works by an author that is used as the basis for calculation.

3. Count, rather than sample. In the era of online union catalogues of book holdings across (most) New Zealand libraries, why is a statistical sampling method still being used to determine the holdings of books? Why not simply write a script to count total holdings, and even total borrowings? (A few libraries already report the latter in their online catalogues.)

So there we are. Three modest proposals. They may well be bad proposals – if they are, please tell me why. But even if they are never implemented, it still gives me a good feeling to check a library catalogue and find that one or more of my books is on loan.

Are you a New Zealand author? If so, did you know that you can be paid for each copy of your books that are held by New Zealand public libraries – as long as the books meet certain criteria, and provided you apply? You can, by applying under the new Public Lending Right.

The most important of the criteria is that there have to be 50 copies of your book in New Zealand public libraries (which do not include school libraries) for it to qualify. Unfortunately, this isn’t cumulative – if you have had ten books published, and 49 copies of each are held in qualifying libraries, I’m afraid you won’t get a bean. (And, by the way, the regulations stop you donating a few copies here and there just to get your total for each book up above 50.)

I should say at this point that this blog post represents my understanding of the Public Lending Right – please don’t regard anything I say here as definitive! You can find the official information on the PLR, and the registration form for it, at the National Library web site:

Public Lending Right for New Zealand authors

One thing that surprises me about the scheme is that the number of copies of a book held in New Zealand libraries is worked out by using a statistical sampling method, rather than by counting the total copies. This was the case under the Author’s Fund, but given that the National Library maintains a site where you can check the holdings of your book in New Zealand libraries, I would have thought a little script that visited each online library catalogue in turn and added up the number of each book held might have done the trick. But doubtless there are complexities here than I’m not aware of!

To be eligible for registration for the Public Lending Right in 2009, for books published prior to 31 March 2009, you need to complete and return the registration form by 30 April 2009. So, if you think you have a book which is eligible, I recommend that you get cracking, especially as the completed form has to be witnesses by a JP or other person authorised to witness a statutory declaration. Downloading the form is a good place to start.

UPDATE: I must mention the key role of the New Zealand Society of Authors in getting the Public Lending Right legislation passed by the previous government, thereby ensuring a more stable future for such payments to authors. Well done NZSA!

Tag: Public Libraries

Three Changes I’d Like To See To The Author’s Fund

The Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors: Getting Paid for Copies of Your Books in New Zealand Libraries