Capitol Connection: Bringing E-Books to CT Libraries

In today’s digital age, even library books can be paperless. The growing popularity of electronic books (e-books) is noticeable everywhere you go – including our state libraries. And, thanks to legislation passed this year, Connecticut libraries are looking at new ways to close the digital divide and make these digital titles available to all library patrons.

Public Act 14-82 An Act Concerning a State-wide Platform for the Distribution of Electronic Books, will allow the State Library Board to create and maintain a state-wide platform for the distribution of e-books to public library patrons.

This legislation came about in response to the findings of a Department of Consumer Protection study conducted last year. The study found that most libraries in Connecticut offer at least some e-books to their patrons, but libraries also face many challenges that make it difficult or unaffordable to get e-books of the most popular titles. These obstacles are broad, but most challenging is figuring out how to comply with copyright laws protecting digital products.

Unlike physical books, e-books have different copyright laws that determine how they can be sold and shared. If library staff buys a physical book, they are allowed to share that individual book with library patrons and even resell the book if they wish. But, they cannot make a copy of that book. E-book rules are a little trickier. Every time the library shares an e-book, they are essentially making a copy of the book when a patron downloads the e-book. Copying a book is copyright infringement, so libraries have to reach special agreements with e-book distributors before they are allowed to share e-books with patrons. Agreements will typically define a limit to how many people can download an e-book at once, how long the e-book file will remain available to an individual, and the associated costs.

By creating our own distribution platform in Connecticut, libraries will be in a better position to negotiate terms and bargain with publishers. They will also be able to reduce costs by eliminating some third party distributors and have more control over the variety and availability of titles in the library system.

It is important to note that many challenges still lay ahead. Developing this platform will take time, cooperation and significant funding. Additionally, once the system is built, negotiations with top publishers will need to be worked out to secure the most in demand titles. Despite these challenges, Connecticut is on a smart path to modernize our libraries and meet the needs of citizens in our digital age. Navigating the new world of buying and sharing digital goods can be tricky, but a state-wide distribution platform will help streamline and grow new offerings to further promote reading.

From the pages of our favorite novels to the screens of our tablets, I believe books in all forms should be at our fingertips with the single swipe of a library card.