Jacob Shymanski

Okay, wait, if you're acquiring an audiobook that's only valid for 24 checkouts, if it becomes a really popular title, I mean, that expires pretty quickly.

And then you have to make the decision whether or not you want to renew it.

In which case, I'm assuming you might want to go with like a timed limit, like a limited license for one or two years instead.

I can see where the dilemmas would come in.

this all sounds so hands-on you're really actively managing your collection and you're not just selecting the titles you want you have to manage the type of contracts and how you're licensing them because there's a lot of implications you have to understand the popularity and demand for all of these different titles and manage a budget on top of that your job sounds a lot more complicated than i initially thought

How much information do you have regarding the specific demand of the Calgary Public Library?

Because it's regionalized, there might be certain books that are especially popular in Calgary or in Alberta.

Do you have information on what specific books your patrons are interested in?

Back to licenses.

If somebody puts their audiobook, a publisher or an independent author, if they put their audiobook on Audible, my understanding is that they get the option to decide to make it Audible exclusive or non-exclusive.

If it's exclusive to Audible, then they get a slightly better royalty cut.

If it's non-exclusive, the royalty cut is lower.

My understanding is that if you choose Audible exclusive, that makes it impossible for libraries to acquire.

Is that true?

The e-book is not a problem?

I have to ask, with so many books being created right now, more than ever because of AI, do you guys have a plan on how to handle this massive influx of books?

It's becoming harder to curate simply because of the sheer volume of books.

And in my observation, what it's kind of created is...

a smaller pool of books becoming mainstream and that makes curation incredibly valuable and I can see where a public library would fit in.

So how can public libraries help in that regard in managing this new influx of AI books with the value and importance of curation?