Help Us Protect Your Access to eBooks and eAudiobooks
Some of the largest publishers in the country are working to make it harder for public libraries to buy eBooks and eAudiobooks by the authors you love.
Public libraries already pay more for eBooks and eAudiobooks than individual consumers pay from retailers like Amazon. We do this because we know that equal access to digital content is critical for a thriving community where wisdom prevails.
In the past, libraries could purchase an eBook and own it forever. Now, the “Big 5” publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster) require libraries to repurchase eBooks after a certain period of time or after a certain number of checkouts.
Macmillan has gone one step further and announced plans to allow libraries to purchase only one copy of each new digital title for the first eight weeks after its release. This means there will be fewer copies of titles from your favorite authors – such as Jonathan Franzen, Kristin Hannah, Liane Moriarty, Louise Penny, Nora Roberts and many more – so wait times will be longer.
News
- To the editor: Join library effort for eBook access | Toledo Blade | Oct. 14, 2019
- Column: A threat to public library access: e-books no more? | Columbus Dispatch | Oct. 1, 2019
- Limiting library e-books a blow to literacy | San Antonio Express-News | Sept. 27, 2019
- New publishing policy could limit new release e-books, e-audiobooks, and Northeast Ohio libraries aren’t happy | The Plain Dealer | Sept. 26, 2019
- ‘They want to create friction’: Publishers cutting library access to ebooks, audiobooks | WDTN2 | Aug. 20, 2019
- Book publishers putting embargo on libraries | Dayton Daily News | Aug. 19, 2019