The eBook Wars (and Saving Money on Books)
Welcome to Saving Money with Andrew!
Recently, Planet Money (one of my favorite podcasts) ran a terrific episode about a huge battle between librarians and the major publishing companies.
I recommend listening to the whole thing, but here’s the basic story:
Prior to eBooks, libraries purchased physical copies of books and loaned them out as long as they were intact. A typical book, depending on whether a paperback or hardcover, new or old, might survive anywhere from 25 to over 100 loans before wearing out.
eBooks changed everything. eBooks never degrade, and can be loaned out repeatedly, with only the limitation that a single copy of an eBook can only circulate to one reader at a time. Over time, the publishers have tried to fight back and make it harder to lend out eBooks, and the episode tells a great story about the continuing battle between libraries and publishers.
The money-saving part of this is that almost all libraries participate in Overdrive (and Libby, the companion app). These apps let you create an account using your library card and borrow eBooks. Libby is terrific, and I highly recommend it.[1] Between using Libby and taking out physical books from our local library, we’ve reduced our annual spending on books from hundreds of dollars to well under $200 per year.
And now, Andrew’s pick(s) of the week:
USAFacts is one of my favorite websites, filled with fascinating data visualizations. Recently, I came across Our Changing Population, which lets you compare how the country, your state, or even your county’s demographics have changed over time.
Also, I would be remiss not to mention anything about the crazy FTX/SBF meltdown of the past couple of weeks. The WSJ’s indepth piece is excellent, as is the two-part Odd Lots podcast episode (Part 1 and Part 2) on it.
I hope this has been helpful. If you liked it, please share it on social media! Also, please send me your feedback, requests, and success stories.
[1] Overdrive also has audiobooks and comicbooks. And Kanopy has an interesting selection of movies and TV shows, though their selection can be hit or miss.