There is strong unmet demand from local readers to access out-of-print Australian books, and authors stand to benefit, according to a new report.

Researchers from Macquarie Business School and Melbourne Law School released the findings of a project aimed at identifying Australia’s ‘lost literary treasures’ and bringing them back to life by republishing them as ebooks and making them available to borrow via libraries or to purchase.

Untapped: The Australian Literary Heritage Project investigated some of the key challenges facing Australia’s book and library industries at a time when Australia is facing a disturbing disappearance of its literary heritage.

“Recent research has shown that on top of low incomes, authors are also facing issues with retaining the rights to their literary works,” says Dr Paul Crosby, a cultural economist at Macquarie Business School and lead author of the report.

“That’s a problem that goes beyond the book industry to lovers of books and all Australians – our books hold the keys to our past, and without them, treasures and knowledge are gone forever.”

In a collaboration between researchers, authors and libraries, the project team identified 161 culturally important ‘lost books’ to rescue – books that were out of print and unavailable to readers – and republished them as ebooks.

The collection includes important books from early women writers and First Nations writers, and notable prize-winning titles, including half a dozen former winners of the Miles Franklin Literary Award.

The project was so successful that most of the books were subsequently published in new print editions, as well.

“We found considerable unmet public appetite for culturally important out-of-print Australian books, and more can be done to help untap this value by making it easier for authors and heirs to reclaim exploited rights,” says project director Professor Rebecca Giblin, of Melbourne Law School.

Key findings from the Untapped project:

• There was substantial demand from the public to borrow and buy the Untapped titles as ebooks, which were borrowed over 15,000 times in 12 months and purchased 5900 times.
• There was no evidence that library lending of Untapped’s ebooks ‘cannibalised’ sales and indeed some evidence that it increased sales for certain books.
• Library promotional activities can strongly influence the books borrowed by readers.
• Re-publication of these previously out-of-print titles opened new streams of income for authors. Untapped generated around $120,000 in additional income for authors in the project’s first 12 months. All participants received ebook royalties from retail sales and library licensing. There were 148 titles subsequently published in print, resulting in added income and royalties for authors or their heirs.
• Participating authors and heirs also enjoyed substantial non-economic benefits, such as a sense of achievement and recognition of their work, in addition to economic benefits from the project.
• Authors faced a wide range of obstacles in reclaiming their rights to out-of-print titles, adding support to the case for minimum baseline rights to better protect their interests.
• Library control of e-lending infrastructure could improve access to data and help direct more money to authors and publishers.

“The Untapped project is evidence that more can be done to save Australia’s disappearing literary heritage and protect our book industry and the rights of authors,” says Dr Crosby.

“It demonstrates the important role of libraries in providing access to all books – print and digital. Our research clearly shows that libraries are the most suitable place for readers to access books and they play an influential role in their patrons’ reading decisions.”

Although the research is complete, the project will continue with the infrastructure in place to enable more out-of-print titles to be licensed into Australian libraries.

“We are thrilled that the Untapped project will continue to rescue lost literary treasures for as long as we have the resources to do so,” Dr Crosby said.

“The books we have rescued have also been protected by the National Library, which means they’ll be preserved and accessible for as long as libraries exist.”

Read the full report here.