I was sitting around the other day thinking about Edgar Rice Burroughs and the public library. Considering the sheer abundance of books published each year I wondered if libraries still had room for any of ERB’s novels. My wife, a retired librarian, would often weed the library shelves of old books that had gone years without being checked out. This task became even easier and more frequent once bar codes replaced the stamped book card as the method used to inventory the collections.
To discover what I could on this burning topic I decided to do a little research. For Part One of the project I began online. If space needed to be saved, then my guess was that the bulk of Burroughs's works would go digital.
This search was also the easiest because libraries across the state belong to a consortium called the North Carolina Digital Library. This shared resource is a central bank for eBooks and audiobooks. These materials are purchased, and NOT public domain downloads similar to Gutenberg.
The backbone of the digital library is a company called, OverDrive, Inc. This company is a digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, online magazines, and streaming video. It launched its library reserve program in 2002, growing from eBooks, then adding audiobooks and more over time. Within the last year, the company introduced its Libby and Sora programs for mobile devices that can be used to directly checkout downloadable materials from local libraries. The company requires all the correct pedigrees (proof of copyright) before they buy, and add books to their database.
So what did I discover? Well, the Digital Library has a rather large ERB collection, but with a number of surprising omissions. Let’s begin with EBooks. They are divided into five format categories, and feature the number of Burroughs titles in each.
Kindle – 31
OverDrive – Libby/Sora (the website proprietary software) – 92
Epub (Nook, iBook, and now also Kindle) – 57
Open Epub (I could find no explanation on the differences in Epubs) – 66
PDF - 12
Since OverDrive pulls from ALL the groups I took a gander, and this is what I found. You will note that missing are some of Burroughs most well-known series. The Moon trilogy, the Venus stories, the War Chief tales, and the bulk of the Pellucidar novels, in particular, Tarzan at the Earth’s Core. However, below are what is available.
TITLE | Overdrive Editions |
Tarzan of the Apes | 2 |
The Return of Tarzan | 2 |
The Beasts of Tarzan | 3 |
The Son of Tarzan | 3 |
Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar | 3 |
Jungle Tales of Tarzan | 4 |
Tarzan the Untamed | 4 |
Tarzan the Terrible | 3 |
Tarzan and the Golden Lion | 1 |
Tarzan and the Ant Men | 1 |
The Tarzan Twins | 1 |
Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle | 1 |
Tarzan and the Lost Empire | 1 |
Tarzan the Invincible | 1 |
Tarzan Triumphant | 1 |
Tarzan and the City of Gold | 0 |
Tarzan and the Lion Man | 1 |
Tarzan and the Leopard Men | 1 |
Tarzan's Quest | 1 |
Tarzan and the Forbidden City | 1 |
Tarzan the Magnificent | 1 |
Tarzan and the Foreign Legion | 1 |
Tarzan and the Madman | 0 |
Tarzan and the Castaways | 1 |
A Princess of Mars | 5 |
The Gods of Mars | 4 |
The Warlord of Mars | 2 |
Thuvia, Maid of Mars | 1 |
The Chessmen of Mars | 1 |
The Mastermind of Mars | 1 |
A Fighting Man of Mars | 1 |
Swords of Mars | 1 |
Synthetic Men of Mars | 1 |
Llana of Gathol | 1 |
John Carter of Mars | 0 |
The Mucker | 2 |
The Return of the Mucker | 1 |
The Oakdale Affair | 2 |
The Land That Time Forgot | 2 |
The People That Time Forgot | 1 |
Out of Time's Abyss | 1 |
At the Earth's Core | 3 |
Pellucidar | 1 |
Non-series books available:
TITLE | Overdrive Editions |
The Monster Men | 3 |
The Outlaw of Torn | 2 |
The Mad King | 3 |
The Efficiency Expert | 1 |
The Cave Girl | 1 |
In addition, there were a number of single copies of compilations available. Tarzan: The Final Chapters which featured Tarzan and the Forbidden City, …the Magnificent, …the Foreign Legion, ….the Madman, and …the Castaways. Then there was Tarzan – Books 6-10, Books 11-15, and Books 16-20. It seemed odd there was not a volume for Books 1-5.
I was pleasantly surprised to find such a large Audiobook selection. I have not had a chance to listen to one, but I feel (hope) that they surpass some of the Librirvox editions.
· A Princess of Mars (2 copies from different production companies)
· The Gods of Mars
· The Warlord of Mars
· The Chessmen of Mars
· Thuvia, Maid of Mars
· At the Earth’s Core
· Pellucidar
· The Cave Girl
· The Moon Maid (appears to be the entire trilogy)
· Tarzan of the Apes (2 copies from different production companies)
· Jungle Tales of Tarzan
· Tarzan the Untamed
· The Beasts of Tarzan
· The Son of Tarzan
· Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar
· The Return of Tarzan
· Tarzan Jungle Tales
· The Land That Time Forgot
· The People That Time Forgot
· Out of Time’s Abyss
The NC Digital Library allows the user to sort by relevance, release date, title, author, and Popularity based on circulation. (Books checked out the most by NC Library cardholders.) Below is the North Carolina top ten:
1. The Son of Tarzan
2. The Beasts of Tarzan
3. Tarzan of the Apes
4. A Princess of Mars
5. Return of Tarzan
6. The Gods of Mars
7. Tarzan Untamed
8. Tarzan the Terrible
9. The Land That Time Forgot
10. Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar
Unfortunately, the site does not tell us how long ago these books were read or if different people borrowed them. This list could be based on checkouts by 2 or 3 patrons, one month, six months, or ten years ago. As I scanned through the pages, I noticed (sadly) that every single book was available for borrowing. (Note: I have requested borrowing data for the last 5 years, and will add an addendum to this post once the information is secured.) Among the audiobooks, only two were being read – A Princess of Mars and The Gods of Mars. This got me thinking.
I know that having a book in the library (in the 21st century) is not the Alpha and Omega of success, but their purchases do track along a line of popularity among readers, so before I left the NC Digital Library I decided to explore some of the newer (newly reprinted) works in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe. I input the following author names: Win Scott Eckhart, Matt Betts, Christopher Paul Carey, Geary Gravel, John Eric Holmes, Gary Buckingham, Jeffrey J. Mariotte, Will Murray, and Fritz Leiber. All these authors (except Buckingham & Murray) have books available on the ERB Inc. Online Store, but only Leiber’s name generated results. Two books of short stories not connected to the Burroughs franchise. As someone who wants to see the Burroughs name and creations continue to flourish for another 100 years, I was disappointed that not a single book recently published made it into the state’s digital library.
What next? Well, the primary question remains. How many physical Edgar Rice Burroughs resided on the shelves of North Carolina Public Libraries? There are 100 counties in the state, and thankfully, most library systems catalogs are online. It will take some time, but in Part 2 of this adventure, I will share what I discover.
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