You might have thought that libraries received some type of low cost in the case of supplies, but it surely’s really the alternative. And, it’s an issue.
This month, The Associated Press reported on how not solely are libraries not afforded reductions in the case of digital supplies like ebooks, additionally they pay greater than particular person customers do. Where a client would pay $18 for an e-book, the library pays one thing like $55 to lease a digital copy — which expires both after a sure time or a sure quantity of checkouts.
With some comparatively small libraries spending as a lot as $12,000 over the previous few years on ebooks — which have grow to be extra in style nationwide because the onset of the pandemic — librarians throughout totally different states have been preventing for legal guidelines that can get the excessive value and restrictions of e-book lending underneath management. In response, lawmakers in Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Illinois have put forth payments to assist curb these excessive prices.
Of course, publishers are in opposition to these measures, and argue that the elevated value of ebooks and the bounds round their lending make up for a way many individuals would have purchased them had the library not supplied them. They keep that, even with the elevated value, there may be nonetheless cash being saved general.
They additionally oppose any lawmaking surrounding ebooks on the grounds that it could harm how mental property is dealt with, in addition to publishing general.
To learn extra, go to The Associated Press.
Find extra information and tales of curiosity from the e book world in Breaking in Books.
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