Book rental service
Librarieshave been lending books to the public for thousands of years.[1]First libraries date back to 2600 BC duringSumerian civilization.In the modern era lending books largely happens by Public Libraries. Generally worldwidepublic librariesarenon-profit organizationsoffering book lending services free to their patrons and are generally funded through taxes and donations or by the state.,[2][3]Public libraries are accessible to general public and are run by civil servants, state employees, or volunteers. Some of the largest libraries in the world include Library of Congress in the United States of America[4]and British Library[5]with millions of titles in their catalogs. Besides the public libraries, private libraries also provide lending services, and are usually run by individuals, associations, or by corporate organizations and universities.Private librariesusually require a subscription or membership to the library (paid or unpaid) and provide services specific to the organization, area or university.[citation needed]
Book rentals
[edit]Before theIndustrial Revolution,books were too expensive for commoners to buy and some businesses made profit by renting out books for a fee such as thekashi-honlibraries ofJapan.In developing and developed nations, for-profit book rental services have started to lend physicalbooks,audiobookCDs, e-books, and audiobook MP3s through stores and online after the popularization of theWorld Wide Web.[6]Most book rental companies provide books with doorstep delivery using logistic services. Following the popularNetflixmodel for video rental, many book companies have applied features such as unlimited rentals, free shipping, and no late fees to their book distribution services.
Book rental models
[edit]Based on rental method
[edit]Based on the rental method the book rental companies can be categorized into two subgroups:
- Book rental companies having a subscription-based models where a monthly or periodic subscription fee is charged and members can rent a number of books based on the subscription.
- Book rental companies taking a fraction of book cost as rent. This is the most prevalent model in textbook and college book renting.
Based on type of book rented
[edit]Based on the type of books that the book rental service rents following classification can be done:
- Physical or Printed Books. The category can further be subdivided into
- Companies focusing on fiction, non-fiction, and other non-academic books.
- Companies who primarily rent academic, reference, and educational publications.
- E-book renters
Many companies renting physical books also rent e-books. Since e-book rental distribution rights are totally different from physical books many smaller companies are not able to rent e-books from standard publishers likeMcGraw-Hill,Pearson,Prentice Hall,Cengage,etc due to the high licensing fees required for rental rights.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Casson, Lionel (2002-01-01).Libraries in the Ancient World.Yale University Press.ISBN0300097212.
- ^"Grants & Related Programs - State Aid to Public Libraries".mblc.state.ma.us.Retrieved2015-11-29.
- ^"Appropriations | Advocacy, Legislation & Issues".www.ala.org.Retrieved2015-11-29.
- ^"Home".The Library of Congress.Retrieved2015-11-28.
- ^"British Council Libraries Catalog".www.library.britishcouncil.org.in.Archived fromthe originalon 2021-06-05.Retrieved2015-11-28.
- ^"World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)".www.w3.org.Retrieved2015-11-29.