The e-book Revolution: A Primer for Librarians on the Front Lines provides a 360-degree panorama of the ever-changing e-book landscape. Its author, Kate Sheehan, composes a section for each of “the big picture issues around e-books,” starting with those related to hardware, formats, distribution, and access, then addressing concerns directly related to libraries, like pricing and lending (xi). The final part of the book considers the position of libraries in the e-book landscape and the unique horizon ahead for them. Although the text’s primary focus is to help public librarians grasp the many issues surrounding e-books, the chapters titled “Readers,” “Problem Solvers,” and “Scenarios for the Future” paint an inspiring portrait of the library’s role in the digital age and are worth reading for anyone interested in the future of librarianship.

In the opening paragraphs, Sheehan addresses the million-dollar question: Will e-books replace print texts? She uses an apt comparison with radio and television to show e-books are not completely replacing print. Part of the reason for the limited influence of e-books, Sheehan points out, is the hardware and format wars. Much of chapter 1 provides baseline information about various e-reader devices and their many proprietary software formats. As Sheehan insinuates, a large problem in the industry, ironically, is that the universal format, EPUB, plays on every reading device except the most popular, Amazon’s Kindle (7).

Chapter 2, cleverly titled “The Rules of the Road,” begins the text’s attempt to navigate readers through the winding roads of e-book ownership, distribution, and publishing. Here Sheehan quickly looks at digital rights management, copyright, and the first-sale doctrine and their effect on traditional library lending practices. Just as the slow-moving vehicle sign is unfamiliar to a city driver, e-book acquisition is new to libraries. According to Sheehan, “The current e-book market requires us not only to purchase books that aren’t objects, but to purchase books we may not own” (23). The sections that follow present an even more confusing image for libraries, one that makes determining who reads, sells, and purchases e-books akin to negotiating a four-way stop when all cars arrive simultaneously. Chapter 3 examines data about e-book reader habits from Pew’s Internet & American Life Project and briefly delves into what e-book vendors sell to public, academic, and school libraries. Chapter 4 explores the “big six” publishers—HarperCollins, Penguin, Macmillan, Random House, Simon and Schuster, and Hachette—their history with e-books, whether they supply to libraries, and how they price their digital editions.

Midway through the book, Sheehan turns the discussion from the physical environment of e-books to their effect on the traditional book ecosystem. Libraries are a main player in this ecosystem, and Sheehan spends quite a bit of time describing this exceptional and difficult position. According to Sheehan, “Libraries are caught between patron expectations, vendor restrictions, and publishers’ demands” (75). Chapter 5 investigates the complex relationship libraries have with vendors. When it comes to promoting discoverability, libraries and e-book vendors are allies; but advocating for interlibrary loan privileges and against egregious pricing models have put libraries at odds with these same vendors. Chapter 6 touches on the demands e-books place on public, academic, and school libraries, and chapter 7 explores how accessibility issues tied to electronic texts are affecting libraries’ relationships with readers.

In the book’s final sections, Sheehan shifts to solutions and looks toward the future. Here she does an excellent job reporting innovative e-book initiatives and delivering a rousing perspective on changes in librarianship. Chapter 8 briefly covers several encouraging stories, like Douglas County Libraries’ homegrown e-book program, Ann Arbor District Library’s local history digital archive, and Gluejar’s Kickstarter-like platform to deliver open access e-books chosen and funded by readers. These stories have a common theme of community outreach that Sheehan ponders in the final chapter. As long as proprietary software formats and restrictive digital rights management exist, Sheehan believes readers will be trapped “in their own walled gardens” (113). She feels that engaging communities of readers and colleagues may be the only way to break down these barriers and keep libraries alive.

This short book provides an exhaustive overview of the current e-book environment. At times, the density of information is dizzying, as Sheehan carries readers back and forth through circumstances in different libraries and marketplace conditions. While the book is a must-read for public librarians tossed into the digital fray, it will not serve the needs of every e-book enthusiast. For those who want in-depth coverage on specific aspects of e-books, this title is not for you. Yet the book is easy to negotiate with chapters that are titled informatively and that contain double-lined boxes of additional information. It’s the perfect beginning for the e-book novice.