At my library, our digital collections budget is astronomical precisely because of this- we pay multiple times more per ebook than what the average reader pays by design. What should be a godsend to making books easier to read and more accessible instead threatens to swallow our budget whole 🧵 - ThreadSky

bookqueer.bsky.social • 9 days ago

At my library, our digital collections budget is astronomical precisely because of this- we pay multiple times more per ebook than what the average reader pays by design. What should be a godsend to making books easier to read and more accessible instead threatens to swallow our budget whole 🧵

Reposted from Internet Archive

“RAISE HELL!” ✊ Maria Bustillos (@mariabustillos.bsky.social) calls on writers & readers to defend libraries & demand ebook ownership, not rentals. Attacks on libraries are attacks on knowledge itself. 📚

Full video ➡️ youtu.be/lu8jK_27vF0

#LibraryAdvocacy #DigitalRights #InternetArchive

Comments

enyalois.bsky.social•9 days ago

I've only borrowed physical copies of books, save one time, but this is good to know and i'll try and do my part, though I'm sure they're already ahead of me with that at my library, who are awesome people from the few times I've been there.

heckintech.bsky.social•9 days ago

Capitalism truly is a cancer. It's whole design is "infinite growth in a finite space". Literally every single thing it touches gets worse and worse, every day. Prices grow, portions shrink, quality drops, planned obsolescence, artificial barriers, paywalls, cost of living crushes stagnant wages..

bookqueer.bsky.social•9 days ago

And it's not that we don't want to provide ebooks! We do! But when publishers put artificial caps on a digital good to mimic a printed book and jack up the price to boot, it's hard not to see it as a greedy cash grab

bookqueer.bsky.social•9 days ago

And that puts authors in a hard position too, because they're usually not the ones asking for it to work this way! Their very real need to be paid for their work is weaponized by their publisher to bleed us dry, because the publisher knows that ebooks are insanely popular

bookqueer.bsky.social•9 days ago

Despite all that, I'm not saying to not borrow ebooks from the library. We need to continue pushing for digital ownership over licensing, and the EFF had some great info on that. Support your public library and all that jazz from your local librarian

enyalois.bsky.social•9 days ago

rereading this, do we need to put pressure on the publishers, and how? Clearly there is a problem, how do we help?

bookqueer.bsky.social•9 days ago

Tbh I'm not sure wrt publishers. the root of the issue is the copyright law that dictates how digital content can and cannot be resold or shared. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a good article on Vernor v Autodesk, a court case that imo enables licensing instead of selling digital goods

enyalois.bsky.social•9 days ago

I hate to ask, my library does hoopla and kanopy, which I lightly use if it's something I can't find elsewhere (movie or short), how much does that hit the budget?

deloebrenti.bsky.social•9 days ago

I would never tell a library user to change their behavior bc of this. But you can support by joining campaigns to advocate for fair markets for libraries! All library use is good use.

enyalois.bsky.social•9 days ago

I guess I'm not sure on how to say, own your e-books. Or what that process would be from a lending standpoint. I grew up with napster and while I try not and go that route, I know it's out there. Maybe i went off on a different tangent.

goinggoat.bsky.social•9 days ago

Those are subscription services and are very different for the budget. I think OP is referring to library purchases of individual ebook licenses here.

enyalois.bsky.social•9 days ago

I'm sorry for my ignorance on this subject. I currently borrowing Tom Robbins Jitter Bug Perfume (physical copy) from my local library, the e-book stuff and licenses escapes me sadly.

bookqueer.bsky.social•9 days ago

I'll be honest gang, I wasn't expecting this thread to do numbers. I was just ranting while on my break. But I'm glad to see so many people care about this issue! The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an awesome advocate and resource for progressing digital rights - I reposted them for a reason!

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