Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Libraries search for a way to make digital books more affordable

Casey Rosseau prepares to walk his dog Darcy while listening to an e-book in West Hartford, Conn., Feb. 1, 2024. Librarians in several states have been pushing for legislation to rein in the costs and restrictions on electronic material, which has been growing in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jessica Hill
/
AP
Casey Rosseau prepares to walk his dog Darcy while listening to an e-book in West Hartford, Conn., Feb. 1, 2024. Librarians in several states have been pushing for legislation to rein in the costs and restrictions on electronic material, which has been growing in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Libraries in Washington want the state to find a more affordable way to keep offering e-books and audiobooks to readers. Digital books are often up to five times more expensive than physical copies for libraries.

Digital books are sold to libraries on a subscription model, which could last for 24 months — or 24 checkouts. After a subscription ends, the library has to renew it.

Demand and the price of digital books have increased, but library budgets haven't kept up.

King County Library System Executive Director Heidi Daniel said demand also remains high for physical copies of books.

"We know that there's a mix of usage happening, and so it really has created what we would say is that quality problem of a big crunch on our budget," she said.

Despite this, Daniel is urging people to continue checking out books.

“So we don't want you to stop checking out books, but you do need to be a little bit more patient and cognizant of that wait time, because we do have to make those adjustments. We can't buy as many e-book copies. We can't buy as many audio book copies,” Daniel said.

The King County Library System is fourth globally for having the most digital book checkouts in 2024, according OverDrive, the company that distributes digital content for libraries and schools worldwide. The county's library system circulated more than 10 million e-books and audiobooks last year.

Libraries in Washington are asking the state legislature to conduct a study on the sustainability of offering digital copies.

Kiersten Nelson, the government relations and community partnerships manager for Seattle Public Library, said the proposed study would involve authors, publishers and libraries.

"And one of the things that we have kind of come up with as a best path forward is creating a study that brings all of the key players to the table to have a conversation about sort of the reality of what is, and is not, the situation here," Nelson said.

The proposal hinges on the state's budget negotiations.

Freddy Monares has covered politics, housing inequalities and Native American communities for a newspaper and a public radio station in Montana. He grew up in East Los Angeles, California, and moved to Missoula, Montana, in 2015 with the goal of growing in his career. Get in touch at fmonares@knkx.org.