Legislation Regarding Equitable Access to E-Books Advances
Illinois lawmakers have introduced bills in both the Illinois House and Senate that, if passed and adopted into law, would require publishers to offer libraries that purchase e-books with public funds (i.e. library patrons' tax dollars) with equitable pricing and purchasing terms. This would mean they wouldn't be able to charge libraries several times more than it would cost someone to buy the e-book at list price, as is current practice. Other states have introduced similar legislation. To learn more, check out the resources here. Then, follow ILA's Legislative updates for information on the bills and how to garner patron support.
"Equitable Access to Electronic Literature Act Advances," ILA Legislative Update (2/3/2022, Illinois Library Association)
Two More State Ebooks Bills Move Forward with One Well Underway (1/24/2022, ReadersFirst)
Bill Status of HB4470 and Bill Status of SB3167
Illinois, Rhode Island Introduce New Library E-book Bills (1/28/2022, Publishers Weekly)
Tennessee, Missouri Introduce Library E-book Bills; Illinois Bill Advances (2/11/2022, Publishers Weekly)
