E-books in Libraries

WASHINGTON, DC — On Dec. 29, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed legislation that would require publishers to offer licenses for electronic books to libraries under reasonable terms (S2890B / A5837B). The bills had passed the New York state senate and assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support in June 2021. ALA President Patricia “Patty” Wong issued the following statement: 

WASHINGTON, DC — Today Macmillan Publishers announced that it would return to the library e-book pricing model that was in effect on Oct. 31, 2019, effectively canceling the embargo on sales of new titles to libraries, a policy which went into effect on Nov. 1, 2019. American Library Association Director of Public Policy and Government Relations Alan Inouye made the following statement:

WASHINGTON—Today Macmillan Publishers begins to limit access to e-books through America’s libraries by instituting an eight-week embargo on library e-book purchases. Despite robust public demand to reverse the policy, the publisher is moving ahead with its plan to limit sales to public libraries. Regardless the size of the library – from large library systems in Washington State and rural libraries in Rhode Island to entire statewide consortiums of small libraries such as in Wisconsin – Macmillan will sell only one copy of a new e-book title for the first two months after release.