Melville House Books

The e-book has arrived in New Zealand. A story in the Dominon Post reports that Whitcoulls, one of New Zealand’s largest bookselling chains, will launch the country’s “first mainstream digital books offering,” making about two-million e-book titles available beginning next month. New Zealanders do not have access to US e-book stores.

Whitcoulls will also be selling a proprietary e-reader; digital books purchased through Whitcoulls’ website , however, will be compatible with personal computers, smart phones, and devices like the Apple iPad. (By contrast, in the United States, digital downloads from the leading e-book retailer, Amazon.com, can only be read on Amazon’s Kindle.

Martin Taylor, director of New Zealand’s Digital Publishing Forum, notes that while e-books represent just five percent of the global book trade, “It’s gathering quite a head of steam where they have got the infrastructure . . . We are obviously lacking most of the infrastructure, including e-reading devices.” Mr. Taylor says that New Zealand is about two or three years behind.

Closer to home, the Monroe, a story in the Louisiana News-Star reports that the Louisiana legislature is considering legislation that would begin a transition to electronic textbooks in its public schools.

“It’s the wave of the future,” said Sen. Mike Michot, R-Lafayette, who chaired the Government Streamlining Commission that made the suggestion. “It’s the next logical step.” The Streamlining Commission “met with Apple Corp., and they gave us great ideas,” he said.

The News-Star reports that the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education supports the initiative, which aims to “to increase the availability of electronic textbooks and instructional materials that can be stored on laptop computers or smaller devices, like netbooks or iPads.”

Local schools superintendents also appear to support the measure. Gerald Dawkins, superintendent of the Caddo Parish Public School System said, “I do not know all of the details of this proposed legislation, [but] I am a proponent of e-books and of any other product or process that allows students access to information 24 hours a day.”

Among the issues is the burdensome cost of replacing textbooks as new editions are published and adopted. State subsidies of textbooks are not enough to cover those costs. “Students could learn the content much easier because it’s in a format that they’re accustomed to using,” says Sen. Eric LaFleur, vice chairman of the state’s education committee. “It would be much lighter, easier to access and less expensive in the long run.”

A graph on e-textbook usage from the Library Research Service

Dan O'Connor is the Managing Editor of Melville House.