A new service that increases the availability of e-books at public libraries has led to a nearly 80 percent increase in borrowing in the first month since it was implemented, the Ministry of Culture said yesterday.
From last month, people are allowed to borrow 10 e-books from public libraries at a time, and the same e-book can be lent to an unlimited number of readers.
Prior to the new service, the number of times each public library could lend an e-book per month was limited and there was a limit on how many times the same e-book could be lent at once.
Photo courtesy of the Keelung City Government
The ministry allocated NT$100 million (US$3.1 million) for the first year of the new service, with 20 administrative regions participating.
Every time an e-book is borrowed, the publisher and author are paid a fixed amount, creating a positive cycle whereby reading and creating reinforce each other, it said.
The publishing industry has suffered greatly due to the digitalization trend, so “the government should do something” to preserve the cultural value of publishing, Minister of Culture Shih Che (史哲) said.
In the program’s first month, e-book borrowing increased more than 80 percent in Yilan, Nantou, Taitung, Penghu and Kinmen counties, as well as in Keelung and Chiayi City, the ministry said.
The five special municipalities in the program — excluding Taipei, which did not join — on average had a more than 50 percent rise in e-book borrowing, it said.
It is normal for activity to rise immediately after a policy is launched, but the data indicate that the market for digital reading has the potential to grow, Shih said.
The number of print books borrowed from public libraries nationwide last year was 94.17 million, compared with 9.33 million e-books, the ministry said.
E-book use and the output of digital publishing have the potential to grow substantially, it said.
The key to stimulating interest in reading lies in identifying readers’ needs, the ministry said, adding that publishers and e-book platforms have been striving to provide more diverse content since the new service was launched.
The Taiwan Cloud Library has an online book exhibition featuring fiction, Taipei-based multimedia publisher HyRead has an exhibition featuring detective novels and iRead eBooks has invited professionals to make book recommendations related to their expertise, the ministry said.
The novel Port of Lies (八尺門的辯護人), which was adapted for TV by Netflix, was the most borrowed e-book across platforms last month, it said.
In addition to expanding its e-book services, the ministry also launched a program to ensure that the procurement prices public libraries pay for books are at least 70 percent of the list price to prevent price-cutting in the sector, it said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS