On March 3, library advocates in New York sent 10,000 letters to state lawmakers as part of a public campaign in response to recent efforts to limit library access to ebooks. The letters, drafted by the New York Library Association in partnership with the American Library Association (ALA), were in support of legislation that would require publishers who … Continue reading States Act on Ebooks
ALA President Wanda K. Brown said in a July 25 statement, “When a library serving many thousands has only a single copy of a new title in ebook format, it’s the library—not the publisher—that feels the heat. It’s the local library that’s perceived as being unresponsive to community needs.” While none of the largest publishers … Continue reading Update on Ebook Advocacy
Within the last few weeks, two of the largest trade publishers—Hachette Book Group (HBG) and Simon & Schuster (S&S)—made significant changes in their terms for libraries. These recent developments follow changes to the pricing model at Penguin Random House (PRH) last October, and the recent imposition of a 90-day embargo on selected digital audio titles … Continue reading The Future of Ebook Pricing
In fall 2018, ALA’s Washington Office engaged in a policy strategy retreat looking forward to the 116th Congress and the 2020 elections. Discussions addressed federal funding, improved broadband access, copyright, and other topics. The ALA Committee on Legislation (COL) then invited representatives from the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) to explore possibilities of … Continue reading New Task Force for Federal Funding for Libraries
As ALA’s senior director of public policy and government relations, I joined ALA president Loida Garcia-Febo and Sari Feldman, senior policy fellow and past president of ALA and executive director of the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library, for separate meetings with Hachette Book Group, Penguin Random House, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, the Book … Continue reading E-Content Challenges Ahead
“We hope these grants will build excitement for CSEdWeek and encourage libraries to start their own computational thinking (CT) programs,” says Marijke Visser, associate director and senior policy advocate in ALA’s Washington Office and lead on the Ready to Code team. Libraries Ready to Code, an ALA initiative sponsored by Google, aims to ensure libraries … Continue reading Hour of Code $500 Mini-Grants Available
On September 26, the US Senate held a hearing on the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act (S. 1010), which passed the House of Representatives in March 2018. One of the two witnesses at this hearing was our copyright counsel Jonathan Band, who also serves as counsel to the Library Copyright Alliance (LCA). This … Continue reading Keep Copyright Office in Library of Congress
PRH has shifted from a perpetual licensing model (by which each copy can be loaned indefinitely) to a time-limited model. Starting in October, licenses for any PRH ebook titles that public, school, and special libraries acquire will expire after two years. The terms for academic libraries are unchanged. No embargos will be imposed—all library access … Continue reading Evolution in the Library Ebook Market
CES also has a public policy track, which included the “2018 Preview: Federal Communications Commissioner Roundtable” with commissioners Brendan Carr, Mignon Clyburn, and Michael O’Rielly, moderated by Julie Kearney, vice president of regulatory affairs for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Much of the roundtable talk focused on recent net neutrality actions; Clyburn is a Democrat, … Continue reading Technology and Library Advocacy at CES
Todaro was joined by ALA President-Elect Jim Neal; Carolyn Anthony and Erika Linke, cochairs of ALA’s Digital Content Working Group; and Carrie Russell and Alan S. Inouye of ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy. They met with leaders at Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, the Book Industry Study Group, Metropolitan New York Library Council, … Continue reading Finding Common Ground in New York
While collecting information for this document last week, I had the pleasure of visiting a Veterans Resource Center—one of 10 in the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) system—at the LAPL’s Exposition Park branch. Many thanks to LAPL Adult Service Librarian Edwin Rodarte and veteran volunteers Paola Martinez and Veronica Hansel for briefing me and answering … Continue reading Helping Veterans
What accounts for the sudden and rapid growth? One answer: the introduction of Amazon’s Kindle in 2007. In response to the disruption that ensued—specifically for library ebook sales and lending—ALA established the a working group on libraries and digital issues (now known as the Digital Content Working Group, or DCWG) to help navigate the Association … Continue reading What’s in Store for Ebooks?
