You’ve probably noticed the video below cropping up on our site as you’ve searched for ebooks lately. While we can’t take credit for this terrific video – that honor goes to the staff of the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library and Library Renewal – we can certainly get behind the message. We hope you can too.
Currently, only two of the “Big Six” American publishers allow libraries to loan their ebook titles (and cheers to you for that Random House and Harper Collins). We believe that libraries and the readers who patronize them deserve digital access to all the same books we purchase in print, but many publishers have been slow to come around. They believe library lending is a threat to their bottom line. However, a recent study by Library Journal found that libraries actually spur book sales! Finally putting some hard numbers behind what libraries have said for years, the study found that “50 percent of all library users go on to buy books by an author they were first introduced to at the library.”
So please, watch the video, sign the online petition, let the hold-out publishers listed below know you think libraries should have access to their digital titles, and most of all, keep reading!
Contact “Big Six” Publishers that do not currently allow libraries to loan their ebooks:
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