eBooks and digital audiobooks are great ways to experience a book, but the high cost to libraries makes building strong collections difficult. We currently have subscriptions with two service providers for ebooks and digital audiobooks. With one service provider, libraries pay 5-6 times more for a book license than an individual does, and that license EXPIRES after two years or 26 checkouts. With another service provider, we pay each time a title is checked out.
With about a quarter of our circulation coming from digital materials, we have to balance our budget against demand, which leads to a limit on the books available for borrowing, which leads to long wait times.
This article talks more about the struggles libraries around the world are facing when trying to budget for ebooks and digital audiobooks. It also mentions the CT ebooks bill that was recently tabled on the legislative floor. While that result was disappointing, we’ll keep trying to find ways to provide the ebooks and digital audiobooks you want at affordable licensing terms!