Digital resources are continuing to outpace physical items in circulation at public libraries, and are becoming increasingly inseparable from the ways that people learn, work and interact. Public libraries’ abilities to afford access to e-books, e-audiobooks and other e-content like streaming movies are more important than ever.
However, while consumers pay $13 in perpetuity for an e-book on average, libraries typically pay $55 or more for one 2-year license.
The bottom line: the majority of current e-book licensing models are unsustainable for libraries.
Along with our E-Content Action Team and partners at U.S. and Canadian peer organizations, ULC works to:
- Refine and leverage the collective voice of our U.S. and Canadian members
- Build productive and collaborative relationships with publisher and content vendors
- Demonstrate the purchasing power of libraries as book buyers
- Develop solutions mutually beneficiary solutions that respecting taxpayer funds and libraries as important customers
“Publishers need to provide libraries with stable lending models and fair pricing for e-content, like those in place for print books.”
- ULC’s Statement on Equitable Access to E-Books
Statement: Public Libraries Stand United for E-book Pricing Action
MAY 2026
In public library systems large and small, urban and rural, demand for access to digital content like ebooks and e-audiobooks has exploded, becoming an indispensable part of the way our patrons learn, work, and interact. Digital content allows patrons with disabilities, seniors, or people served by libraries too far away to easily visit to benefit from the public library like never before. However, this access is under a real threat because the terms under which libraries license this material are increasingly unsustainable. The e-book licensing status quo is a crisis for public libraries and patrons across North America.
The E-Book Pricing Crisis
MARCH 2026
Public libraries play an essential role as a dynamic place for innovation and opportunity. As digital technologies become increasingly inseparable from the ways that people learn, work, and interact, public libraries’ abilities to afford access to e-books, e-audiobooks and other econtent like streaming movies are more important than ever. Libraries are eager for dialogue to develop mutually beneficial models with publishers, an open conversation about exploring alternatives acceptable to all parties – ones that use taxpayer funds responsibly while protecting the interests of creators and publishers. Explore the issue, what is needed, and sustainable solutions for starting a dialogue with the largest publishers.
Statement on Equitable Access to E-Books
JULY 2024
The ULC E-Content Action Team and our members have issued a Statement on Equitable Access to E-Books which outlines key issues to create a solutions-based approach to critical e-content issues and advance sustainable library access to digital content.
E-Content Action Team
The ULC E-Content Action Team is a group of public library leaders and experts who have come together to create a solutions-based approach to critical e-content issues and advance sustainable library access to digital content. If you are interested in joining this action team, please contact Angela Goodrich, Chief Operating Officer, agoodrich@urbanlibraries.org.