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Witnesses tell committee small and rural libraries are being priced out of digital access
Summary
Committee testimony highlighted that many small and rural libraries have tiny budgets and rely on interlibrary cooperation; witnesses said licensing rules and costs put those libraries at risk of losing digital access.
Witnesses told the committee that licensing practices and rising costs disproportionately affect small and rural libraries. Angela Goodrich cited a small Texas library with a total annual budget of about $36,000 and said many rural systems are priced out of offering ebooks and audiobooks. "Most of those [libraries] have a budget of under $100,000," she said, arguing that interlibrary loan restrictions for ebooks compound inequities.
Kyle Courtney and DCPL witnesses described ongoing regional coordination: DCPL participates in reciprocal borrowing agreements with neighboring jurisdictions and Urban Libraries Council members meet regularly to strategize. DCPL’s leaders said licensing pressure may require them to analyze who is a net lender or borrower in the regional ecosystem and to be strategic about resource-sharing if budgets tighten. "We may need to be a little bit more strategic about who is a net lender and who is a net borrower," Richard Reyes Gavilan said, while noting the committee’s regional partnership goals.
