Now those who use the Deichman libraries in Oslo cannot read e-books or listen to digital audiobooks in Norwegian. Today, the loan app Allbok is being shut down, without Deichman having found a replacement.
At the beginning of January, it became clear that Bokbasen, which supplies Allbok, was going to shut down the service. On 27 March, Deichman informed the borrowers that they will be left without an offer until the new system is in place.
– We had hoped to find a solution before the agreement with Bokbasen expired on 24 April. But it turned out to be too demanding, says Ellen Aabakken, section manager for physical and digital collections at Deichman.
The library is now in the middle of a public procurement process. They cannot therefore give any information about a future solution or how long it will take, says Aabakken.
She says the library hopes that it will happen this year.
8,500 users
According to Aabakken, the Allbok app has had 8,500 active users.
– There have been inquiries from patrons who think it’s a shame that the offer is getting a break, she says.
Deichman has currently set aside approximately 2 million for e-books and e-audiobooks in 2024. Expenses for technical solutions will be added. They also receive copies of e-books on the purchasing arrangements from the Directorate of Culture.
– What happens to the budgeted money now?
– A portion has already been spent on content. We have to spread the rest over later months. Perhaps we will also spend more on Libby, which has e-books and audio books in languages other than Norwegian.
Libby is also one of the solutions Deichman refers to in the transition period towards a new lending app for digital books.
There have been inquiries from patrons who think it’s a shame that the offer is getting a break
— Ellen Aabakken, section leader at Deichman
The market for services of the type Deichman is looking for is small, the library says. This particularly applies to Norwegian book titles.
Rogaland has a new app
Since 2020, Bokbasen has had an Allbok agreement with Deichman and with the libraries in Rogaland. In Rogaland, a new lending app is already in place: Bookbites.
Councilor in Rogaland county municipality, Bjørn Kjetil Fredriksen, says that Bookbites has been in use since 4 April, but that it has also been possible to use Allbok for reading and listening. As of this week, only Bookbites will work.
The systems the libraries use for lending e-books and audiobooks are two-fold. One part is a content service that libraries can use to purchase books. The second part is the app itself for those who borrow, read and listen to the books. Until now, only Bokbasen and Biblioteksentralen have been possible content suppliers.
Fredriksen says the agreement with Bokbasen expired on 17 April this year. On 4 January, they therefore sent out a price request to Bokbasen and Biblioteksentralen.
– On 8 January, we received a reply that Bokbasen is shutting down Allbok.
Rogaland now uses Biblioteksentralen and Bookbites, like most other counties. They have 2,700 patrons who have borrowed 9,000 books and audiobooks since BookBites started on 3 April, Fredriksen states.
Resigned
Bokbasen develops digital products for the book industry. Instead of submitting new offers to tender, they have chosen to discontinue the Allbok library app when the agreements with Deichman and Rogaland expired.
According to managing director Tone Løyland, the tenders in the field have been aimed at those who deliver the content service being retailers who can give a discount on the books.
Bokbasen has instead arranged for the publishers to be able to sell book licenses directly to the libraries. They have not wanted to change this model, and have therefore withdrawn.
– We want to operate a platform for direct sales. We do not want to be a dealer on behalf of the publishers, says Løyland.
Tags: audiobooks ebooks Deichman
-
