You may have heard news lately about library ebook lending. Beginning November 1, 2019, Macmillan Publishers plans to restrict library access to ebooks. The publisher will limit libraries to purchasing only one copy of each new ebook title for the first eight weeks after its release. Additional copies will then be available for two years of access at library pricing, which is considerably more expensive than consumer pricing. Public Libraries Online recently posted an article that details the potential impacts to libraries.
Because this is a publisher-level restriction, it will affect any ebook or audiobook platform. For Wyoming libraries, this means patrons could experience long waits for the latest MacMillan titles in CloudLibrary, RBDigital, and OverDrive.
The latest press release from the American Library Association (ALA) notes that in just one month, their #eBooksForAll campaign has garnered more than 100,000 signatures from readers, authors, library staff and patrons from all 50 states to condemn Macmillan Publishers’ plan to restrict library access to eBooks.