CALGARY—Convenient and accessible, ebooks and electronic audiobooks have skyrocketed in popularity at libraries. But as demand rises, so has corporate restrictions on their use — which advocates warn will make it harder for everyone to access information.

Publishing houses have long said they don’t make money on digital versions of their books, prompting some to raise prices or create versions that expire after a set period of time.

The latest blow came earlier this month, when publisher MacMillan went ahead with an embargo for all new ebooks, the first of its kind among the big publishing houses.

Starting Nov. 1, when a new book is released by MacMillan or any of its imprints, each library system — whether it covers a state, a city or a small town — is entitled to just one digital copy for the first eight weeks, after which time they can purchase more copies. In a letter announcing the policy, CEO John Sargent said libraries offering ebooks were negatively affecting ebook sales. By offering just one copy for eight weeks, readers who cannot access the book at a library would be forced to look elsewhere, potentially buying a copy of their own.

Advocates say the latest restriction creates a divide between disadvantaged people — such as the elderly or those with disabilities — and the rest of society.

Libraries have called foul since the announcement, arguing that there’s no data to prove Sargent’s claims. But the change went ahead despite an international petition and support from municipal governments across North America.

Anne Marie Fryer, digital resources manager for the Calgary Public Library, said she’s seen ebook and e-audiobook usage grow year over year. In 2018, CPL saw 1.8 million checkouts of electronic books, she said, and on Nov. 4, 2019, that number had already reached 2 million.

This may be in part due to the growing senior population, said Christopher Warner, program lead for community education at Canadian National Institute for the Blind in Southern Alberta.

“More and more people are losing their sight, and they’re in need of alternative formats,” he said, adding that he thinks the new embargo by MacMillan is “a huge restriction.”

Rina Hadziev, executive director for the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA), agreed. She said people with disabilities that prevent them from accessing print books already only have access to around seven per cent of the content abled people do, according to Statistics Canada.

CELA provides books and other materials to people with print disabilities including vision impairment, dyslexia and physical disabilities. For example, if a book isn’t available in audiobook format for someone who needs it, CELA will actually create the audiobook for them.

Hadziev said any policy that means differently abled people don’t get access to content at the same time as others — or at all — effectively creates “two tiers of users.”

She pushed back against the idea that libraries are negatively affecting ebook sales, arguing that most library users also buy books, often discovering their favourite authors through the library.

“The library allows you to become a reader and a lover of books,” she said.

Sharon Day, Edmonton Public Library’s director of branch services and collections, said the embargo is just the latest in a line of changes by publishers making it harder for libraries to provide electronic content to their patrons. These changes are most effective when they come from the “Big Five” publishers, she said — MacMillan, Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster.

“There’s been a number of changes that have happened over the past year when it comes to the content that we have, for how long we have it ... and for what we pay,” said Day.

There are four main issues libraries are having when it comes to accessing ebooks and e-audiobooks, she said. The first is cost: ebooks or e-audiobooks can cost up to five times the price of a print copy for a library, she said.

The second issue is the rise in metered access or expiry dates for ebook licenses. More and more, publishers are making ebook licenses expire after two years, or after a certain number of uses.

Third, some e-audiobooks just aren’t available to libraries at all. That’s because companies like Audible have exclusivity rights on certain titles, blocking libraries from accessing them.

And of course, there’s the recent change by MacMillan, a new type of restriction.

“We are concerned that this could point to more changes coming down the road. And arguably, embargoes are the most impactful and worrisome change that’s happened,” she said.

Why? Because the point of libraries is to “even the playing field,” said Day, making content accessible to everyone regardless of ability or financial difficulty. This embargo widens the gap between vulnerable populations and the rest of society, she said.

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“Our public libraries have a core mandate to make the widest range of information and expressions of knowledge available to all members of our society,” Day said. “We are seeing a degradation of that equalization of members of our society.”

When MacMillan announced the change earlier in 2019, libraries across North America joined in on a continentwide petition protesting it. The petition has more than 200,000 signatures so far.

In response to the pushback, Sargent issued a public letter outlining steps he said the company has made to address libraries’ concerns, including a lower cost and perpetual access for the first ebook.

However, he was firm in the argument that libraries were negatively affecting ebook sales.

“We believe the very rapid increase in the reading of borrowed e-books decreases the perceived economic value of a book,” Sargent wrote.

Since the embargo applies to entire library systems, it’s a bigger problem for city libraries, said Rachael Collins, collections librarian for Strathcona Country Library. For smaller library systems like hers, where around a quarter of patrons live in rural areas, ebooks are often an alternative to driving an hour or more into town.

“Ebook usage … has just been increasing year over year,” said Collins, adding that for her patrons, restrictions on e-audiobooks have been the biggest issue, impacting “people with visual disabilities, learning disabilities, or people unable to come into the library physically.”

“Libraries are about equal access and it is unfairly impacting the disadvantaged,” she said.

Linda Kershaw, a retired Albertan who lives a half-hour drive from the nearest library in Sherwood Park, said she accesses most of her books electronically. With her Kobo, she can download library books easily and use the device to magnify the text when needed.

She said she thinks ebooks and electronically available audiobooks are “the way of the future.”

“I rarely, rarely pick up a paper book anymore,” she said, adding she often finds herself on a wait-list for a book she really wants to read.

“Personally, I could probably go and buy a book if I really wanted it, but not everyone’s in that position,” she said.

For Jayne Jeneroux, another recent retiree living rurally, it’s audiobooks that keep her connected to the library — she said she often listens to four hours of content a day.

Jeneroux said she’s worried for both the publishing industry and her local library, and hopes the two can “play friendly.”

“Because I love books so much, I worry that we will never have libraries anymore, or bookstores,” she said. “I love my library. I think it’s the greatest creation ever made.”

Day said the libraries understand that the publishing industry has changed with the rise of electronic content, and that the system for licensing ebooks might never be the same as print copies. But she said it’s important the publishers and libraries work together to find a more equitable solution.

“We understand that there’s going to be a different kind of a model. But there has to be one that’s fair and transparent and works for both parties.”

With files from Associated Press and The Canadian Press

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