Expensing e-books: how much should patron habit influence collection development?

Purpose – The purpose of this article is explore the difficulties in managing print and e-book expenditures in today’s libraries. Design/methodology/approach – The basis for this article stems from conflicting data showing patrons desiring to read more e-books versus print books at the beginning of the very e-book movement, and more recent studies showing this trend plateauing while e-book reading device purchasing increases. Findings – Two different phenomena may be occurring in tandem or separately in this case: less people are reading while having increased capacity to read e-books; libraries are adding more e-book content while print book reading is not falling off as fast as previously anticipated. Originality/value – E-book expense allocations are far from an exact science. Library budget managers are in need for continued research and insight to guide decision-making. This article adds to extant research in this area providing support for a “wait-and-see” approach toward spending on e-books.