> But he probably sold lots of them?
#20 in the Philosophy of Good & Evil category. 😊
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Rick Anderson
University Librarian
Harold B. Lee Library
Brigham Young University
(801) 422-4301
Subject: Re: The assault on libraries
From: Winston Tabb <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2021 23:39:16 +0000
But he probably sold lots of them?
Winston
On Mar 15, 2021, at 7:25 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: "Thatcher, Sanford Gray" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2021 03:38:02 +0000
It might be useful to point out here that the famous philosopher of capitalism, author of The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, also wrote The Theory of Moral Sentiments in which he stressed the need for society to function well to have not only self-interest operating but also the sentiment of sympathy. It would appear that Jeff Bezos never read the second book.
Sandy Thatcher
From: "Jim O'Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2021 18:55:53 -0700
Joe, I would offer two comments.
1. Making as much money as you can without violating the laws is not the only aim of economic activity (except, I suppose, for Objectivists). There are also social goods and, some of us would argue, obligations towards those social goods. The guiding force of Amazon has been at pains to build himself a public reputation for complete indifference to such a claim.
The analogy that comes to mind is that of an automobile industry in the US bound and determined to build as many of the biggest ugliest vehicles they can, because they can make the most money that way. They *could* make smaller, even more attractive vehicles and exceed the required mileage numbers and in so doing improve the chances of having a liveable planet 100 years from now. Is it not appropriate to aver that they should do so? When some of them show an inclination to work with the state of California on greater restraint, should we encourage them?
2. So as we know and the article makes clear, there are other publishers in the marketplace who do seek to work with libraries to sustain the social good of ensuring wider access to the common store of knowledge than individuals can afford. Is it not appropriate to commend their example and express the hope that Amazon might change its ways?
Jim O’Donnell
ASU
On Sun, Mar 14, 2021 at 5:39 PM LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: JJE Esposito <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2021 18:40:24 -0400
Gosh, Jim. I really can't agree with you. The authors signed publishing contracts with Amazon--that's their business. Amazon chooses not to sell to libraries--that's Amazon's business. Many, many publishers (including the highest value ones, which sell market research and technical reports) do not sell things to libraries. That's their prerogative. Direct marketing is not against any law I am aware of.
Joe Esposito
On Sun, Mar 14, 2021 at 6:22 PM LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: "Jim O'Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2021 15:14:23 -0700
An entirely excellent article in the Washington Post today outlines the distressing challenge to the economy of readership in America being posed by Amazon's stiff-necked refusal to make Amazon-published material (which now includes best sellers) available to public and other libraries on any terms at all, much less reasonable ones. The article is headlined to draw attention to Amazon as the heavy in the story, which it is, but also outlines more broadly the challenge for our traditional notions of libraries (places of free access to citizen-valuable reading material) by the current economy of digital information. The most startling fragment in this to me was the admission of a fairly high profile author who had published a book with Amazon that he was not aware that his book was for that reason unavailable in libraries! This article is indeed "a yikes" for libraries.
Jim O'Donnell
Arizona State University