Books can cost state libraries $15, so why do e-books cost them 3 times as much?
HARTFORD — For as little as $15, a book can be purchased for a library and for years be circulated throughout the community as one reader takes it out, returns it and the cycle continues. Increasingly popular e-books, however, have caused budgetary problems for libraries throughout Connecticut with the digital version of the same book costing about $55 for a two-year loan license for the book.
Librarians are now turning to lawmakers who, on both sides of the political aisle, voiced support this week for a bill that would save libraries around the state millions of dollars they currently lose in contracts with publishers of electronic books that charge much more than average consumers have to pay, then delete items from their collections after two years, or 26 loans.
Members of the legislative Planning and Development Committee, led by Co-Chairwoman Eleni Kavros DeGraw and Sens. Ryan Fazio and Tony Hwang, told librarians that the current state of business with publishers is concerning, and that they hope to advance a bill, opposed by book publishers, that failed last year.
“Obviously the cost of producing an electronic book is a lot less than the cost of producing a physical book, too,” said Fazio, of Greenwich, a top Republican on the committee. “So the inequality of the cost doesn’t make a lot of sense from that standpoint, too.”
“Are there any other sectors that you know of that has this kind of cost disparity?” Hwang, R-Fairfield, asked State Librarian Deborah Schander, who led off an afternoon of testimony Wednesday that featured school and public librarians from around the state. “And are libraries being singled out as an entity as regards to this disparity? It really is a significant cost differential that goes back and impacts taxpayers and equity concerns.”
“I think that’s exactly the way to put it,” Schander replied. “Libraries are the only sector that are charged these costs or face this kind of licensing for econtent.”
Fazio called the system “out of whack.”
“It’s just so surprising to me that I can get on Amazon and buy a hardcover book for 20 bucks and I can buy the e-book for 12 bucks, but you all are buying the hardcover book for 15 bucks and the e-book for 50 bucks,” he said.
“According to the publishers, the e-book content doesn’t expire, doesn’t need to be replaced, can’t be damaged or dropped in the bath or any of the things that may happen to a physical copy,” Schander said, stressing that one of the roles of the State Library is to enhance the state’s local libraries. Readers of e-books can also change the size of the type to make it easier to read.
Schander said that over the last 10 years, there has been a take-it-or-leave it attitude from publishers, who do not allow for direct purchasing of e-books because corporate owners can make more money on rentals.
“These licenses greatly affect our core mission to provide equitable access of information to all citizens,” Schander said. “Libraries face significantly steeper costs than consumers. We must pay those costs again and again to gain access to the same content. Our autonomy to make decisions about how to share and lend e-books has been taken from us.”
Since the start of the fiscal year last July 1, the State Library, located across Capitol Avenue from the State Capitol, has spent $76,000 on e-books and electronic audio content, Schander said, adding that she expects that budget to equal $130,000 by June 30. “These are materials that we share out to hundreds of public school, academic and other libraries.” If those institutions bought the materials themselves, the cost would rise above $1.2 million. “But we have already lost access to 13 percent of that content this year, thanks to expiring licenses and $16,000 of that $76,000 has been spent to renew licenses and maintain access.”
Estimates of what state academic and public school libraries spend on ebooks each year is about $3.5 million a year. If approved in the committee and the House and Senate, the legislation would take effect on July 1, 2026, in attempt to give libraries more power in contracting with publishers.
“To be clear, we don’t want to spend less, we want to spend better,” Schander said, stressing that the proposed bill would give them more power in the contracting process.
Supporters of the bill filed about 80 pieces of testimony, while opposition came mostly from publishers. The Association of American Publishers said the bill would be prohibited under U.S. copyright laws. “Let’s get this into the open up front: There’s nothing wrong with publishers capitalizing on their exclusive rights under the Copyright Act to maximize their profits,” wrote Devlin Hartline, a legal fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute Forum for Intellectual Property.
But Maureen Sullivan, a state resident who is past president of the American Library Association said that the publishing industry has engaged in “misinformation.” She recalled the disruption that the digital revolution initially caused book publishers, particularly the so-called Big Six, which with mergers are now five: Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon and Schuster.
“They were really, and still are, holding us hostage,” Sullivan said.
“The lack of access is almost a borderline freespeech issue in my mind,” Kavros DeGraw said, stressing that the economic impact of e-books in the country is close to $20 billion. “The reality of is they are really hindering our access and that is not what we’re about in the United States of America, certainly.”