Connecticut needs fair e-book pricing and terms for libraries
Libraries serve many vital roles for their communities. At their core, libraries level the playing field by supporting free access to reading and learning for all patrons. Today, this means offering not only physical books and materials, but all kinds of digital content, including e-books and downloadable audiobooks.
Unfortunately, libraries have been struggling for years to obtain and provide equitable access to digital materials. With physical books, libraries can buy from a wide range of retail outlets and wholesalers and secure deep discounts. But the same isn’t true for e-books.
Libraries pay up to six times more than consumers for the same digital books. What’s more, libraries must repurchase titles when their licenses expire after a certain amount of time or number of checkouts — typically 24 months or 26 checkouts.
Publishers can also choose not to sell certain titles to libraries or delay library sales well after the release date. This is the opposite of how libraries have purchased print books for decades, and it’s harming libraries and their patrons.
E-books and downloadable audiobooks serve people with visual or reading impairments. Not all books are published in large print format but with e-books, readers can adjust the font type and size to what they need. Digital audiobooks serve people who struggle to read and provide literature where there might not otherwise be access.
Digital books also serve people with limited mobility. Connecticut residents might not have the ability to drive to their local library, but digital books bring the library to them, wherever they are.
When publishers decide libraries cannot purchase some books, that means only people who can afford to pay for a book can have access to the content. That is the antithesis of what libraries stand for.
All these restrictions and limitations have significant cost implications for library budgets, and therefore for taxpayers.
Patrons must wait longer for digital books because collection budgets cannot adequately support the unreasonable cost. Library staff must constantly reevaluate what books are in their collection, what licenses have expired, and if they should spend their limited budgets on new titles or on renewing expired licenses.
Libraries are put in a position where they are not building collections based on the interests and needs of their community, but instead on what publishers will allow them to purchase, whether by limiting available content or charging rates that far exceed what they charge consumers.
The Connecticut General Assembly’s Government Administration and Elections Committee has raised HB 6829: An act prohibiting electronic book and digital audiobook license agreements or contracts from including certain terms. Additionally, the Planning and Development Committee has raised HB6800: An act concerning electronic book and digital audiobook licensing. These bills aim to set fair terms and fair pricing for library e-books and downloadable audiobooks.
With these bills, libraries can build robust digital collections, publishers can still make a profit, and taxpayers won’t be overcharged. Contact your legislators and tell them that you support these bills and fair e-book pricing and terms for libraries, so your library will be able to support your digital reading needs now and into the future. This op-ed was written by Laura Irmscher, director, West Hartford Public Library; Elizabeth Lane, director, Bloomfield Public Library; Sarah Kline Morgan, director,
East Hartford Public Library; and Bridget Quinn, president and CEO, Hartford Public Library.