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Show UP FOR DUSCUSSION Column: Sterling Says The Summer To-Do List Fear of the immortality of eBooks, Harper Collins has put a cap on how many times a book can be checked out at a library before it is no longer available. WRITTEN Sterling Gray Have you spent the first half of the summer watching a lot of TV? Yes? Slap yourself. Yes, it's already mid-June, you can change your ways. Start a list. Until you actually plan out your summer, it's going to remain a shapeless, an ambitionless blob. Like you. So take out a sheet of paper, take a leap of faith in yourself, and decide what the next few months are going to be. There aren't any guidelines for making this list. Just do it. You'll know it's right if when you finish, a great "Dang right I will!" escapes you lips. I know it did mine. Here are my top five: 1) Buy a road bike — Financial constraints have led to me to approach commuting the old-fashioned way. In addition to that, there is something about riding downhill on a bike, peddling furiously, wind blowing my hair back, that helps recapture some of my lost youth. Doesn't hurt the body image either. 2) Find my go-to sno cone shop — A must for any summer, a good sno cone shop can really set the tone. Here's a helpful hint: coconut flavor won't stain your shirt. 3) Kiss a girl — This has been on my summer list since I was 13. Summer lovin', although cliche, is hard to beat. Luckily, I am entering the summer months already attached to a lovely lady, so this one should be a go. 4) Barbeque every weekend — Despite the financial commitment that this entails, I'm dedicated to sizzling steaks and blowing smoke into my neighbor's yard. There are friends that I neglected in favor of my studies during the bitter winter. What better way to catch up than around a grill? 5) Read the classics — Oliver Twist, Middlemarch, and Ender's Game top my list, among others. Charles Dickens and George Eliot may be old school and behind on fashion, but they're excellent company on a picnic. There you have it. Although some of them may appear silly, I'm taking them very seriously. I won't be satisfied until I squeeze every last drop out of this summer. Neither should you. 8 I theVmagazine The Orem Library could face increased costs for eBooks and limited titles if Harper Collins keeps the cap on checkouts. Fear of future income in the digital age: HarperCollins Publishing boycotted WRITTEN Lorna Marie Larson PHOTOGRAPHY Celeste Tholen Rosenlof How much do libraries pay publishing companies for the rights to lend "copies" of eBooks? According to major publisher HarperCollins, not enough. If other publishers follow suit, it could mean less online access to eBooks and fewer titles for library patrons. Unlike actual books, eBooks last indefinitely and bring no future revenue for publishing companies. Fear of their bottom line caused HC to create a new policy putting a cap of 26 loans on eBooks before rights to the title must be renewed at "paperback" prices. "Twenty-six circulations can provide a year of availability for titles with the highest demand, and much longer for other titles... Our hope is to make the cost per circulation for eBooks less than that of the corresponding physical book," they said in a letter to librarians. However, the cost of an eBook has been less than the cost of a regular book and would now become rather expensive longterm. Suzanne Hodson, long-time Assistant Librarian at Orem City Library, found the number especially low. "Sometimes a book is checked out 200 times. If the number were more reasonable for the lifespan of a book, I think it would be less of an issue," she said. Orem has been negotiating with OverDrive, the online middleman between the libraries and publishers such as HC, to provide eBooks for their patrons. A boycott of HC by libraries across the country and Canada has caused OD to create a separate account for HC's books in order to keep their own customers. As the Orem library is partially statefunded, they go through OD and may be affected by the change in HC's eBook policy, something they may not be able to afford. It has already been difficult for city libraries such as Orem to pick titles with costs of bestsellers so high. Time will tell whether the international boycott will cause HC to rethink its position. |