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Senate advances bill to study library digital contracts and expand access
Summary
The Massachusetts Senate ordered Senate No. 2710 — a bill to create a commission to study digital library resource costs, use, privacy, and access — to third reading as amended and passed it to be engrossed after floor debate and roll-call approval.
The Massachusetts Senate on Tuesday ordered to third reading and passed to be engrossed Senate No. 2710, an act directing a commission to study challenges facing public libraries’ digital resource collections. Senator Barry Feeney, the bill’s floor sponsor, said the measure is a first step toward sustainable access to ebooks and audiobooks for libraries statewide.
"Ebooks and audiobooks have become an increasingly prevalent resource used by library patrons, yet they have become a financial burden for already strained public libraries," Feeney said on the floor, urging creation of a broadly representative commission to study cost trends, licensing terms, consumer privacy, and recommended statutory or administrative changes.
The bill charges the commission to examine contracting and licensing practices for electronic resources, research consumer use and satisfaction, advise on privacy protections for users, and recommend legislative or executive actions to support library collections. Feeney and supporters emphasized that unlike physical books, many digital materials are licensed on restrictive, time-limited terms that can force smaller libraries to pay repeatedly for the same title.
Floor amendments drew debate. An amendment proposing that the commission review so-called master contracts to help smaller libraries access content was defeated by standing count. A separate amendment to expand commission membership to include a representative of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute and a rural consumer appointee was not adopted. One amendment (author representation) offered by Feeney was adopted before the bill was ordered to a third reading as amended.
Clerk-led roll call recorded 38 senators voting in the affirmative and none in the negative; the clerk announced the bill was passed to be engrossed.
Supporters said the measure is intentionally designed to be deliberative and defensible against federal preemption challenges that have struck down similar laws in other states, and that the commission will work with stakeholders — libraries, publishers, legal experts, and consumer advocates — to identify practical, legal, and sustainable policy options.
The bill now proceeds in the legislative process as an engrossed Senate measure.
