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DC Public Library director: rising ebook costs may force prioritizing print
Summary
DCPL Executive Director Richard Reyes Gavilan testified that ebook spending nearly tripled from FY2019 to FY25 while digital circulation more than doubled, and warned that flat base budgets and rising licensing costs could force the library to prioritize print materials.
Richard Reyes Gavilan, executive director of the District of Columbia Public Library, told the committee DCPL’s ebook spending rose from $655,500 in FY2019 to $1,620,000 in FY25, and that digital circulation rose from about 1.58 million items to roughly 3.74 million over the same period. "Somehow, the wait time for ebooks was still longer in FY25, 46 days," Reyes Gavilan said, framing the data as evidence the library cannot meet digital demand under current licensing terms.
Reyes Gavilan said most library ebooks are distributed under metered-access models (e.g., 26 circulations or three-year licenses), meaning the library can lose access before the community has realized the paid use. He said DCPL now licenses about 54,477 titles in a year—up from roughly 15,000 earlier in the decade—and that flat collections budgets may force officials to prioritize print because print purchases deliver more durable circulation per dollar. "Choosing between licensing ebooks and buying print books is a losing proposition for libraries," Reyes Gavilan told the committee.
When asked about negotiation leverage, Reyes Gavilan said the most popular titles are often nonnegotiable "take-it-or-leave-it" offers, though staff pursue bundling and other strategies when feasible. He also cautioned about unintended precedent if the council legislates purchasing decisions of an independent public library and said DCPL would want to work with the committee on any future amendments should the trigger clause activate.
