A trend toward e-books and audiobooks has made reading more convenient for many people. Public libraries are adapting — but digital books, with renewable licensing and distribution limits, can cost many times more than the printed versions. A proposed law would give libraries more say in procurement, eliminating what the New Jersey Library Association calls the “unfair costs and terms for libraries to obtain electronic literary materials from publishers, distributors and other entities.”
Jennie Pu, director of the Hoboken Public Library, shares more. This NJ Spotlight News interview has been lightly edited.
Joanna Gagis: Why is it that libraries are paying three to five times more for an e-book than they are for a print copy?
Jennie Pu: Demand for digital books and audiobooks keeps growing in New Jersey, and every year libraries are spending more to try to keep up. At Hoboken, we now spend more on digital content than we do on physical books. But what most people don’t realize is that libraries actually have zero ability to negotiate the price, the terms or even how we access it. That’s all set by a handful of publishers, and libraries either accept those terms or we don’t offer those books.
JG: So the difference is when you’re purchasing a print copy of a book, you could go to probably a number of publishers. There are fewer publishers for e-books, is that correct?
JP: Well, a handful of publishers control the vast majority of the most in-demand titles, and the libraries’ mission is to serve the public. And if the public wants a certain title, really, that’s the title they want to read. So we have to provide that. We have to accept those terms that are set by those publishers.
“We want transparency because we are stewards of public dollars and we want to be able to deliver the highest value for the public that we serve.”
JG: Part of those terms is that you have to continue paying for that book over and over and over — that digital copy. Is there an explanation why that’s a required repeated purchase rather than a one-time purchase like you would for a print copy?
JP: I want to be very explicit. Libraries serve the public and we see the huge demand for the reasons that you mentioned. People are using e-books for not just convenience, but for accessibility reasons. We continue to pay into these licenses. Think of it like trying to fill a bathtub with a drain wide open.
Every license we purchase expires typically in two years. And so we continue to pour money down into that. But the line doesn’t go down because licenses keep expiring. What this bill does is set some parameters on how public institutions spending this amount of money on digital content can function.
JG: Sen. Andrew Zwicker has proposed a bill that would limit these types of contracts, and he’s put some stipulations in the bill. Let me just say more broadly, he prohibits the procurement or licensing of any contracts that limit or restrict the library’s ability to have its customary lending function.
What are some of the things that this bill would stop in terms of that contracting process that you just laid out?
JP: Any normal market situation where you’re spending millions of public funds — we would have a say in that. And so Senator Zwicker is really asking an accountability question: How is it that public institutions, collectively spending millions on digital content, have no ability to negotiate?
This would be setting some reasonable parameters for how taxpayer dollars are used in a digital market.
JG: You would be allowed to share information about your contracts with other libraries or with the Attorney General’s Office. Are you right now precluded from sharing that information?
JP: You’re very right. We don’t have access to that. We want transparency because we are stewards of public dollars and we want to be able to deliver the highest value for the public that we serve.
JG: So violations would fall under the Consumer Fraud Act, if this bill does pass. What does it mean for libraries? And then what does it mean for the community?
JP: Multiple states are moving forward on this. And I’m really proud that New Jersey is moving forward. Rhode Island just introduced their bill a few weeks ago. What it starts is an actual process of negotiation. We want to provide more access to these titles to meet the huge demand in a way that’s sustainable and ensures that we are spending taxpayer dollars in the most efficient and fair way possible.
JG: And not spending and spending and re-spending, right?
JP: Right.
This story is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
