Publishers Are Getting Nasty Now That Libraries Are Finally Fighting Back on Unfair Pricing- UPDATED 9/15/26

As many readers know, I have been fighting for months, very publicly, calling out the publishers for overcharging libraries for ebooks and eaudio. You can read all of my posts here or go straight to the letter of testimony I delivered to the IL State House in person back in March. 

Well, while I was on vacation the publishers showed their hand big time. That hand? They are scared of us. Our arguments about the unfairness and our pursuing legislation based on the fact that the pricing hikes for libraries violates contract laws and takes advantage of the taxpayers is working! If it was not working why would they pay for studies like this one. From the PW report on this study

Study Says Library E-book Lending Hurts Industry Sales

As some states consider legislating how publishers negotiate with libraries over e-book agreements, the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild have released a report which found that increased e-book library lending is supplanting sales of print books.

Titled “An Empirical Study of the Impact of Library E-Lending on the Book Economy” and conducted by Secretariat Advisors, the report predicts that “decreases in library e-book prices or certain other changes to licensing terms, as required in recent state legislative initiatives, would cause further harm to commercial markets,” including publishers, authors, and booksellers.

The report’s authors emphasize the role of libraries as both public institutions and market participants, acknowledging that “collection budgets have not meaningfully increased even as states and localities expect libraries to offer both print and digital formats to their communities.”

However, the authors argue that the imposition of government controls on the distribution, purchase, and pricing of e-books and audiobooks in library channels “would effectively undermine the commercial marketplace by demanding more digital copies for libraries for less money immediately upon first publication with little regard for the larger ecosystem.”

In a joint prepared statement, AAP president and CEO Maria Pallante and Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger said that “fully funding libraries should be an urgent priority for all lawmakers, and the Authors Guild and AAP stand firmly behind efforts that would increase taxpayer funding at every level of government and support new ideas for private sector support.” They continued, “It should be obvious to policymakers that both the mission of libraries and the intellectual property of authors and publishers are equally invaluable to the public interest, not a tradeoff.

Click though to read more. But as you can see in the intro above, they are clearly scared. They wants to keep bilking us for extra money but also, they know people are mad that they are picking on libraries in general and stealing their tax dollars in particular. 

Well we are not falling for it. Well, to be fair, some libraries are. They tell me, but Becky what if they stop selling to us if we fight? To them I say, you are joking right? With margins so tight already, 

These are the same people who obey in advance when it comes to soft censorship, so they can just shit their mouths. They are wrong and keep proving over and over again that they are unwilling to fight for what is correct when push comes to shove.

But I digress. Here is what I know about their scare tactics. The smartest people on books are not buying this crap. Take Ron Charles' Substack article on this issue: Libraries Are Not the Problem: A new publishing-industry study takes aim at ebook lending just as public libraries are fighting for their lives.

Click through to Ron Charles' well argued essay, click here for the PW report on the study, and of course, keep following my coverage and FIGHT here.

Important Update: My colleague and friend Stephen Sposato from Chicago Public Library alerted me to this VERY important article pointing out SIGNIFICANT faults in the study the Authors' Guild commissioned. So not only are they nasty and scared, but they are fighting libraries by releasing data inaccurately manipulated to make us look bad.

Please read and pass on.

Library People, Strap in For a Fight With the Author's Guild

As regular readers of the blog know, I have been working on a bill going through the IL legislature to stop the publishers and their predatory pricing of eBooks and eAudio for libraries. You can read here about when I went to Springfield to testify on the topic at the State House, including my written testimony.   

The Author's Guild filed with the committee we were testifying for stating they were against our bill to control prices. 

We passed 99-0 in the IL State House and since then, they have turned up the heat and have been actively releasing "data" and lobbying against our bill.

Last week I had this post about larger library groups coming together to fight back against the Author's Guild slander. Go here to read that.

Now they are upping their fight against us by trying to make it look like libraries are part of the reason why authors are not making money.

Here is the news story on the "report" they commissioned. It does not explicitly say libraries are part of their problem but it does lay the gourd world for that argument. Combined with the statements they have made formally against the bills circulating throughout various statehouse (as reported here), their intentions are clear. They are trying to throw us under the bus.

They are not protecting authors here. As you can see in my written testimony, they are protecting the publishers. Authors do NOT get more money when the publishers overcharge libraries for digital books and audiobooks. Remember I am an author as well as a librarian. I understand this issue from both sides, as I wrote about here.

I posted this on Bluesky yesterday and many authors are coming to our defense. Library workers are calling out the fact that this is all th publishers fault. I cannot keep up with my responses. Here is what I said there when I posted this link:

You all-- I never thought I'd see the day, but library peeps, strap in for a fight. The Author's Guild is going after us as the reason why authors are making less money. I don't think they understand who they are dealing with:

Also, authors (of which I am one), the Author's Guild does a lot of good generally, but they are WRONG here. They are trying to turn against us. There are over 12,000 public libraries in America and they are one of the only places reliably spending money on books every single day of the year.

Don't fall for these scare tactics. The best route toward improving our income from writing books is hand in hand with the library.

There is no call to action here for today. But this post is a warning to you all. We need to be aware that the Author's Guild is building a case against us. It has been in the shadows of state houses until now. Slowly they are laying the groundwork to throw us under the bus.  Please be on guard. 

I will keep everyone posted as well. 

Libraries Fighting Back [Together] on Unfair Digital Book Pricing [story via PW]

As I discussed in this post back in March, I have been actively involved in trying to get fair eBook pricing for libraries. I was in Springfield to jet rally support for IL House Bill 5236—The Digital Library Protection Act. From the ILA page Advocacy page about HB 5236:

What is House Bill 5236?

The Digital Library Protection Act, as known as House Bill 5236, aims to prevent publishers from imposing unfair restrictions on libraries when licensing eBooks, digital audiobooks, and other electronic literary materials. It prohibits contracts that would prevent libraries from performing their usual functions, like licensing materials from other publishers, using necessary technology for lending, making preservation copies, or participating in interlibrary loan systems. 

It prevents publishers from restricting a library's ability to determine loan periods, from charging libraries more than the public for the same item, or from limiting the number of licenses a library can acquire after an item is available to the public. The bill ensures libraries can continue to virtually share content for educational purposes and share licensing terms with other libraries in the state. 

In that post, I included my written testimony which was formally filed with the committee.  

Since then, the bill passed the IL House 99-0. It is currently sitting the senate but the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild’s denunciation of the passage of Illinois HB 5236. It will probably not get taken up until the Fall session due to the Chicago Bears sucking all of the energy out of the state house, but we are on the right track.

This denunciation by the Authors Guild is what I am currently battling against. They are wrong to oppose this. They are not protecting authors. They are actually hurting them. I talk about it in that previous post. Authors do not get more money when these books are sold for high prices to libraries, and in fact, fewer books by mid-list authors are purchased because of the high prices. 

Our next steps here in IL are to keep the library workers updated (I helped with a webinar on that), and, through me, reach out to specific authors to get them to support us. I am going to have to work to explain why they need to go against the Authors Guild-- which I support normally too, especially as we are connected with them through he HWA-- but in this case they are wrong to side with the publishers. 

Now that IL is making headway, 5 Large Library Organizations are finally speaking out to help those of us in CT and IL who have been going at it alone. We were the test cases and it is starting to work, so now others are reading to jump in and help us fight back. 

PW had this great article that will get you up to speed on the entire issue. From the first paragraph:

On May 27, five public library organizations from the U.S. and Canada released a statement, addressing the Big Five publishers and digital platform providers, in response to e-book pricing models. The Association for Rural and Small Libraries, Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, Canadian Urban Libraries Council, Public Library Association, and Urban Libraries Council all signed on to the letter.

Please click through to read the entire article. It explains where we are on a national lever here. Things are getting serious and we are close to FULL VICTORY. Also take a look at the Joint Statement Letter (linked above as well). From that letter:

Our organizations, representing the vast majority of public libraries across the US and Canada, call on the Big Five publishers, as well as platform providers, to come to the table to work with libraries to identify and implement sustainable solutions, no matter the format.

Mutually-beneficial solutions exist. These include the importance of usage-based e-book models that guarantee our communities actually have access to the materials their libraries have paid for, and the option for libraries to purchase perpetual-use models so we can ensure the preservation of knowledge remains a cornerstone of the public library.

Public libraries protect copyright and invest millions of dollars in curating collections that increase author discovery and promote titles and reading, and our book borrowers are book buyers. We’re important partners for publishers, and have shared concerns including declining literacy rates and fighting threats to intellectual freedom.

It’s time for a new dynamic, based in collaboration and mutual respect, that can build off those shared interests. It’s time to finally address – rather than ignore – this crisis. This helps everyone – libraries, authors, patrons, publishers – thrive.

Thank you to PW's Libraries reporter, Nathalie op de Beeck, for covering this so well. Now everyone in publishing has a clearer understanding of what we are fighting for. I hope authors and smaller publishers begin to understand that the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild are not fighting for them like they may think they are.

Feel free to use any or all of my letter to the IL House, in tandem with the PW article and the Joint Statement Letter, to do your own advocating.

Becky Goes to Springfield [IL] to Support House Bill 5236-- The Digital Library Protection Act.

As I mentioned on Bluesky, I spent yesterday going back and forth to Springfield IL to support House Bill 5236—The Digital Library Protection Act. From the ILA page Advocacy page about HB 5236:

What is House Bill 5236?

The Digital Library Protection Act, as known as House Bill 5236, aims to prevent publishers from imposing unfair restrictions on libraries when licensing eBooks, digital audiobooks, and other electronic literary materials. It prohibits contracts that would prevent libraries from performing their usual functions, like licensing materials from other publishers, using necessary technology for lending, making preservation copies, or participating in interlibrary loan systems. 

It prevents publishers from restricting a library's ability to determine loan periods, from charging libraries more than the public for the same item, or from limiting the number of licenses a library can acquire after an item is available to the public. The bill ensures libraries can continue to virtually share content for educational purposes and share licensing terms with other libraries in the state. 

If you live in IL, please register to attend our update tomorrow about everything that happened yesterday here.

Before I get to my official statement in support of the bill, I wanted to share a very short recap on what happened yesterday.

Click here for photos.

We were appearing in a show of support for this bill to move from the Consumer Protection Committee to the floor of the IL House. We did move forward with a 6-3 vote. This results what our lobbyist said would be a huge victory (it means we got one republican to vote for us in committee).

But I need to thank all of you who filed witness slips because while the bills that went before us reported that they have 5-10 witness slips in favor we had over 2700! The committee was impressed. But I also need to share that the anti witness slips were from places like Penguin Random House, the Authors Guild, and the American Publishers Association, so we need all the support we can get, especially from you PATRONS.

They noted in the hearing that most witness slips supporting were librarians. As we move forward we need to see the public get involved.

Please go to this page to follow our progress and see how you can educate your patrons to speak out in support. 

Right now our focus is on gathering the 60 votes we need from the IL House to pass this bill to the Senate. We need those in place and secured in 8 business days from today which is 4/9. (there are some closed dates around Easter).

What we need is for you to call your IL House Reps and talk to them about voting yes here. Now after the webinar tomorrow we will have updated advocacy scripts and advice. I will let you all know about that but it will all be here on the ILA's page with all of the info as linked above.

As my colleague Robin Bradford (and IL native) noted on Bluesky yesterday, "When you spend more money, your buying power shouldn't DECREASE. Someone is getting over like a fat rat and it ain't the people. Not the authors, either!"

Which leads exactly into the witness testimony I was asked to provide as Big 5 author, librarian, and trustee. It was officially filed into the record. I am sharing it here with all of you because no matter where you live, you can use this to advocate for this issue. In IL, I will be contacting reps outside of my district to speak as an author and as a former elected official myself. (Don't get me started as to how mad I am that the Authors Guild is against this bill, a bill which hurts every author, but they are doing what PRH tells them to do here. They are not fighting for us.)

CT has passed this legislation. We are moving to the House floor and NJ is right behind us. (which for me is poetic justice, the state I live in and the state I am from are leading the pack here.) If a few dominos fall, the Publishers will be forced to give up and make the rules fair for all libraries. Don't think for a moment what happens here in IL is not going to help every single library in the country. We are doing the work for all of you and we are happy to do it. I just wish Springfield wasn't 3.5 hours away. But with teamwork and carpools we made it happen. Again, check out the pictures here.

I hope to see of you at the webinar tomorrow as well.

My official witness testimony ends this post. Please feel free to quote me or just borrow the language to use for yourselves. And a huge thank you to Robin who provided the real time numbers for purchasing my specific book.

Submitted by Becky Siegel Spratford, Librarian, Author, and recently retired 24-year, elected Public Library Trustee for La Grange Public Library (Cook County).

I would like to thank the Consumer Protection Committee for giving me, and my colleagues from across Illinois, the opportunity to speak to you today about House Bill 5236—The Digital Library Protection Act. I am speaking to you in support of this bill and its aims to prevent publishers from imposing unfair restrictions on libraries when licensing eBooks, digital audiobooks, and other electronic literary materials. 

I would like to begin by sharing my personal experience as the author of WHY I LOVE HORROR: ESSAYS ON HORROR LITERATURE which was published in September 2025 by Saga Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster. The print version of my book retails for $18 while the physical CD of the audiobook is $34.99. Consumers can buy a digital copy of my book from Amazon for $13.99 and digital audio for $13.02, via Amazon.

However, if a library would like to purchase my book for their library collections the cost of the ebook is not only inflated to $59.99 for one use at a time, but also that purchase is only for 24 months. After that time, the book simply disappears from the library’s collection and must be re-purchased again for that same price with those same terms. The digital audio is inflated to $69.99, again for one use at a time, for only 24 months.

In my opinion, this is the definition of price gouging, and since libraries are using tax dollars to purchase books for their collection, the victims are our citizens, the very people this committee is responsible for protecting. 

I want to be clear here, because I have been asked about this before, Simon and Schuster is not crediting my author account for sales dollars above and beyond the list price of my book when they make a digital sale at those inflated prices to a library. And again, unlike my print book, which can circulate as many times as possible, the libraries who purchase the digital versions of my book, only “own” them for 24 months from the date of purchase.

As of this writing, the print, digital audio, and digital ebook of my title are checked out from my library. But in less than 24 months from today, the print will still be on the shelf while the digital book and audio will disappear. Access will be denied to those who want to read it. As a librarian, I am not sure even if I would make the choice to reorder this book digitally at those prices, especially knowing the print is there for people— and let me stress, this is my book I am talking about. 

Now, multiply this financial decision about my book by thousands because as you have heard from my colleagues today, my book is but one example of this extremely unfair and, quite frankly, unsustainable system.

However, my irritation and anger as an author and librarian is eclipsed by how unfair I know the current system is for our citizens. I worked tirelessly as an elected Library Trustee to give the citizens of La Grange, IL the most efficient and effective service for six full terms, from May 2001-April 2025. The current system puts Library Trustees between a rock and a hard place. 

On my board we were regularly briefed on how popular our digital materials were, while we were also told about the price disparity between digital and physical copies. We always wanted to use our taxpayers’ dollars efficiently and effectively. We weighed the cost versus the need. We made sure the staff had access to enough money to give our patrons the titles they wanted, in the formats they wanted. 

But even for a well-funded library like La Grange Public Library, this was not easy. We had to get creative with our budget and we even used grants to help bridge the funding gaps. Many of our fellow libraries across the state don’t have the financial resources we did, however, and their patrons (citizens who give their tax dollars for their library’s collections), are forced to go without digital access to many of the books they want to read in those formats.

As you can see, I am engaged with this issue from all sides. I care deeply about making sure readers have access to the books they want from the public library, whether I have written that book or not. I also want my book in the public library. I want readers to be able to find my book on the shelf, be that a digital shelf or a physical one. I am proud that people can find my book at their public library. But I am saddened that in order for a library to have my book, they have to pay through the nose, and even after making that choice and paying those steep prices, they don’t even have access to it after two years.

This is most unfair to the consumers. Yes, the literal consumer is the library here, but really, since we are using taxpayer dollars, the consumer is our citizens. Even worse, they have no idea that they are being price gouged. 

As an author for one of the largest publishers, I also understand that we need to make money—the publisher and myself. But in the current price structure system, I am not making any more money, the library is paying a lot more, the taxpayers are being price gouged, and only the publisher is profiting.

I am so thankful that you are hearing testimony on this important issue. I hope my testimony can help you move House Bill 5236 on to the full House.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Beyond Banned Books Displays: How Did Your Library Celebrate Intellectual Freedom Earlier This Month?

I am on the Illinois Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee and I just created a survey for IL Libraries asking them to share any creative ideas for rising above the basic "Banned Books Week" display that they tried out earlier this month.

During the ILA Annual Conference, our committee had a great program on "soft censorship," and at the end, we asked for feedback as to what else the ILA community wanted us to work on int he coming year. This topic-- how to promote Intellectual Freedom beyond just talking about book banning or putting up banned books displays-- came up many times.

We all know that book banning gets people's attention but the issue is so much deeper. In fact, because Intellectual Freedom in general is in jeopardy, it is important for us to pivot and focus on advocacy and information about our rights over just putting up displays of books that have been banned.

This is something Kelly Jensen writes about all of the time for Book Riot here, but before Banned Books Week 2025, she went into more detail about how she was helping her local bookstore focus on advocacy over banning. I shared her thoughts and bookmarks here.

It is this kind of "beyond banned books displays" idea that we are looking to gather for a program here in IL, but I also want to gather even more examples, from all over the country to share with my followers all over the world here on the blog.

So, if you had a successful display, campaign, promotion, etc.... during Banned Books Week that you want to share with a larger audience, please contact me (bspratford at hotmail dot com) with the subject heading, "Beyond Banned Books Displays" (to make sure it doesn't get lost in spam) and I will work to feature some of your Intellectual Freedom advocacy ideas here. I might even pass your library's work on to Kelly Jensen to feature on Book Riot as well.

You did the work to educate your community, but here is your chance to help libraries and their patrons all over the country. Please share. No library is too small. I want to hear about all of it.

Let's work together to share ideas. Our Intellectual Freedom could hang in the balance. Thanks in advance.

Belonging Is NEVER a Given, It Takes Intentional Work: My Illinois Library Association Annual Conference Appearance Recap

I gave 2 programs at the ILA Annual conference while the tone was different in each, the message was the same-- Belonging is not a given in libraries; in fact, quite the opposite is true. Libraries and librarians have always placed barriers to access in libraries. 

We have excluded others actively and passively. This is true with in American society and in libraries. Libraries are one of our most democratic institutions, but because our entire democracy has been plagued (from its inception) by who is included and who is (legally) excluded, we have never risen above our country's flaws.

The theme of the ILA conference this year was "You Belong Here." I know th organizers of this year's conference personally. I know they understood the theme. They understood its complexity. Yes it sounds nice. Yes many attendees came feeling like-- oh I live this. But they knew that most libraries and library workers only give belonging a surface glance. And that is why they accepted programs that challenged this fact-- that we (as a profession) spend too much time patting ourselves on the back for fostering belonging, while our spaces and policies do the opposite-- they exclude.

If we truly believe that everyone is allowed to use the library we need to face the fact that WE are part of why many people do not feel like they belong.

I was energized by the programs that looked this hard truth in the face and challenged those in attendance to do better. I was heartened by those who understood the assignment-- both presenters and attendees. Those who shared these uncomfortable truths and worked to help us all find the path toward rectifying past mistakes and do the work to move us forward.

Of course there were those who shared how my programs trying to address the paradox of belonging made them feel alienated. People have a right to their feelings, but to be fair, especially in the first program I will list below, making established librarians (regardless of if they were "white" or not) feel very uncomfortable was the goal. To get these folks to feel even a little of the extreme discomfort that library worker of color face was the goal. I hope those who felt alienation and needed to leave spend some time with those feelings and come back to the slides-- especially the resources links at the end of the presentation.

To those who could not make it, below are the titles of the programs, links to the resources that were available to the conference attendees, AND a few more thoughts from me.

Tuesday, 1:30-2:30-- The Call is Coming From Inside the House: How White Librarianship Protects Itself and Hinders Belonging. Slide access here

In this program, Julie Jurgens, Alea Perez, and I were confrontational. We shared hard truths, but we also brought everyone around to asking themselves these questions in the end:

• What are the unconscious beliefs that I hold that create and sustain our fear of open conflict?
• What am I doing to uphold white supremacy?
• What can I do to stop being part of the problem?

We did not allow for questions from the group. Instead we asked them those questions. And like we encouraged the in person audience, I want to encourage all of you-- everyone reading this regardless of your identity (because marginalized people internalize white supremacy as well)-- to sit with those questions and really think about your answers, especially in regards to your work with your patrons. Write down your answers and then bring these hard questions (and your thought out answers) to your staff to foster the important (but uncomfortable) conversations that need to be had.

Thursday, 3-4pm-- You Truly Belong At Our Library: How Embedding Belonging in Your Planning and Policies Creates A Better Library Experience for Staff and Patrons. Slide and resources access here

In this program I organized a group of Illinois Library leaders to discuss how we had to consciously write belonging into our policies because over the last 5 years of providing antiracist training with Robin Bradford, the number one question I have gotten when I talk about Action Step 2 (on slide 5 here) and tell people to get your antiracism in writing, I am asked to provide examples. I got sick of telling people to make a go of it for themselves and I used my privilege to do the work for them. You can see those policies in the slides of my program with Robin and in the slides for the program from last week. 

I got true belonging into writing and now my library is living the policy. I gathered a few more folks who have been brave enough to do this work as well. Those people are listed in the slides available with the link above as is their contact info for more.

Please spend some time with all of the slides and resources I have provided here today. But don't think you can just click right now, look them over, and say oh, I now have learned it all. Schedule time to look at it all over time. Sit with your feelings. Look at those three questions above, specifically. They will guide you in this work as you need to do it. Belonging is your goal but getting there is a unique journey.

And as always, click here to contact me if you have questions or would like training to help you and your staff navigate these feelings.

RA for All is at the Illinois Library Association Conference All Week But The Horror Blog Has a 6 Day Feature Not to Miss

 I have popped home from my book tour to present and be a sponsor of the Illinois Library Association Annual Conference. 

RA for All will take a pause while I give my full attention to my state library conference and colleagues.

Please click here for the PDF of the conference program book. I am very proud that RA for ALL is a silver sponsor. You are welcome in advance for your coffee.

I will recap the entire conference on Friday in one post including the links to all of the presentation I was a part of and reports on what I saw and did, but I did want to alert everyone to this presentation I am a part of on Tuesday:

1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

The Call is Coming From Inside the House:

How White Librarianship Protects Itself

and Hinders Belonging

Speakers: Julie Jurgens, Lake Bluff Public Library; Alea Perez,

Roselle Public Library District; Becky Spratford, RA for All

Room 21

Slides are clear and strong and I will have them here for everyone to see with or without being a registered attendee on Friday. I hope the three of us will continue to give this program far and wide. I am very proud to be a part of this. A huge thank you to Alea for the idea and to Alea and Julie for being amazing and collaborative partners. The pre-planning on this was some of the best conference program planning I have ever been a part of. I am so proud to be on stage with these women. 

We know we are putting ourselves out there for this presentation. We know it will make some people mad. But, we are unwilling to stay silent. We have already put ourselves out there in the past. We have already felt the heat. We are done placating people. We are ready to force people to understand, learn, and help us in the fight to find real belonging, not just play lip service to it.

[Big shout out to the conference planning committee for accepting this program knowing full well who we are and how we present.]

But don't fear (pun intended), I am not abandoning you this week while I am off conferencing. Head on over to the Horror blog because I have 6 days of awesome content.

Monday through Saturday, 31 Days of Horror has a mini series within my established Why I Love Horror series. This week I am featuring Creature Publishing and it began today. Creature is a feminist horror publishing house on the rise-- and that "on the rise" statement is not an exaggeration. One of their titles made the October LibraryReads list as the Board Fiction pick-- Vampires at Sea by Lindsay Merbaum!

I will be featuring Merbaum tomorrow with her Why I Love Horror Essay, but today I began the 6 day series with Founder and Publisher, Amanda Manns, on why she loves horror and why she created Creature. 

This post not only introduces you to the press and its founder, but she also writes a little bit about each author who will be a part of this 6 days event. AND, click through because Manns is gong to offer a 5 book prize pack to 1 library worker this week. Details on how to enter are in the post.

Goodbye here until Friday. See some of you in person in Rosemont, IL. 

And head on over to RA for All Horror for some great content in the meantime.

RA for All at the Illinois Library Association Annual Conference Through Thursday

The Illinois Library Association's Annual Conference is this week in Peoria. I am on the Executive Board and am presenting on Tuesday and Thursday. RA for All is a sponsor and will be providing coffee on Tuesday.

You can see more about our state conference here, including using this link to not only see all of the programs but also to get access to the handouts without a log-in. 

As a result, I will only be posting on the Horror blog from today through Thursday. I will be back here Friday with a new post-- probably a wrap up of the conference. 

But do go visit 31Days of Horror in the meantime because it running every day, rain or shine, conference or no conference, and  I have 6 books to giveaway this Thursday! And there are some big names in the stack.

It is Imperative That We Do Better At Communicating E-Book Pricing to Our Patrons

We are terrible at communicating what we do to the public. Yes some of it is because it is difficult to explain a lot of what we do. Even after 23.5 years on my local library board, my husband is still confused by some of the rules we have to follow because we are funded by tax dollars. But some of it is because we just go about our business quietly, and as long as no one ruffles our feathers, we stay quiet. 

Earlier this month, I wrote about how my library is using September-- National Library Card Sign-Up Month as a chance to share what the library is doing and its value to our citizens. We are focusing on what you get for your prepaid library card and not on tallying how many new cards we get. We have shifted our focus and we have already seen great results (such as a local brewery giving us $1 per glass of a special beer they made for us all month long). Our Executive Director has already given two very public speeches about our library, our values, and what we offer our community (such as our mission statement and strategic plan which you can see here).

Back to our HUGE problem of being bad at proactively communication what we do and why to the public-- who pay for our services. This has served us poorly in a variety of ways. For example, every time a dumpster of weeded library books show up on the internet, people freak out. And then we have a PR disaster as we have to go back and explain that collections are always added to and deleted from. And also remind people that some books need to be "retired," and no, they aren't good enough for "poor people."

Of course, the entire rise of paid political agitators actively trying to remove books from libraries has been exacerbated by us thinking if we ignored the obvious illegality of their argument that the "problem" would go away.

However, today I want to talk about another issue we have been too passive and silent on for too long and now it is out of hand-- ebook pricing and how we NEED the public's help in our fight to get fairer pricing and user models.

Let me back up for some context. I am constantly correcting people-- educated people, library users, readers-- who think that when we buy a book for the library we get it in all formats for one price. They assume we pay slightly more than them, but they think for that price we get all those copies they see in our collections.

Sigh. 

These are people who support the library and use our collections. They love getting their books for a prepaid value. They want more access to books and they would be appalled if they knew what was actually happening. They have no ideas that 1, we pay for every copy of the same book in every format and 2, that we are gouged on e-book and e-audio pricing AND that we don't even own them at those prices.

As a member of the Illinois Library Association Executive Board, I have been a part of an organized effort across a variety of states to use existing contract and consumer protection laws in each state to force publishers to be more fair in the money they charge us for e-books and e-audio. The key language here is coordinated effort. Publishers are fighting hard against these laws in every state, but we are all using similar language and avoiding FEDERAL law (because that infringes on copyright and was already shot down). This state-by-state approach that is focused on consumer protection is receiving more support from legislators and making it harder for the publishers to argue against us. Legislators want to give their constituents the best deal for their tax dollars, not fight to have their money wasted.

Here is the language ILA is using as part of our legislative agenda not his issue:

Equitable Access to Electronic Literary Materials Act
Restrictions placed on libraries accessing digital content have posed a challenge in acquiring and providing access to eBooks, as publishers often impose restrictive licensing and contractual terms.  Most publishers and eBook aggregators force libraries to acquire eBooks with licensing terms that make it impossible to meet library standard access and preservation missions. ILA will propose legislation seeking to change this through a new state law based on consumer protection, contract law, and contract preemption to regulate library eBook contracts with publishers.

This is the communication we have use to legislators about this issue.

However,-- and now it is time to bring it back to the beginning here-- we need to also work on how we communicate this issue to our card holders. E-book and e-audio access is one of the biggest selling points as to why people should have a library cards. Our patrons love the easy access and the library of materials they have at their literal fingertips. We hear it form them all the time and see it in our statistics as well.

So how can we share this complex issue more easily? Well, to start, NPR ran this 3 minute story recently (audio and transcript access are both at the same link). From the intro to that story:

AILSA CHANG, HOST: 

For years, libraries have complained that e-books are too expensive. They follow a licensing model rather than a purchasing model, meaning that librarians have to keep paying for those e-books. Now legislators in a handful of states are trying to build momentum behind a new approach. In Seattle, KUOW's Clare McGrane explains.

Yes these three minutes are just a tip of the iceberg. But, it does introduce the issue to our patrons very well. Post the NPR piece and more resources on your website. Here is a link to all of my posts on the topic as well. Reach out to your state library association and have them share the language they are doing on this issue and their resources to educate others. 

Just start talking about it. because as I said here, I really want September to not be about tallying how many new library cards you get and instead be about how many conversations you have had with your community about what the library offers.  And how we use their money to serve them is a conversation starter. When they are being fleeced fort he things they want, when they know the truth, they will get mad and advocate right alongside us. Once that happens, our legators will take action.

ILA Reporter: December 2023 Issue With some RA Info and MORE

One of my responsibilities as a member of the Illinois Library Association Executive Board is to be the liaison to the ILA Library Reporter, our membership print magazine. 

While I was excited to be appointed to this committee back when I first joined the board, I want to tell everyone that this role and being part of the ILA Reporter has exceeded my expectations in every way. This committee and the ILA Staff working on our 4x a year magazine are some of the best library people I have met through a random situation. It further solidifies my professional decision to double down on helping my state library community as I outlined in my 2023 goals here. 

Yes I am proud of our publication, but many of you may be asking, Becky, why post about it on a RA focused blog? Great question. 

This month's issue has a perfect article that is directly connected to my work: "Warming Up to Winter: Exploring Winter Reading Programs at Libraries" by Emily Hampston, Palos Park Public Library. And you can click on the title or below to read it for FREE.

I was planning to promote this article anyway, but I have so much pride for the work we are doing and enough of the articles are RA adjacent that I decided it was worth a post here too.

Click here to visit the ILA Reporter landing page to read this issue or any back issues. Or look below to see the TOC with links to the articles. 

Current issue

December 2023 | Volume XLI, Issue 4

Warming Up to Winter: Exploring Winter Reading Programs at Libraries

Emily Hampston, Palos Park Public Library

A Day in the Life of a Museum Librarian and Head of Library Collections

Gretchen Rings, Marie Louise Rosenthal Library of the Field Museum

The Power of Partnerships: Multi-Library Banned Books Week Webinar

Ashley Johnson & Roz Topolski, Vernon Area Public Library District

Making Decisions Centered Around EDI

Cindy Khatri & Van McGary, Downers Grove Public Library

Library Clue: Bringing Fun Back to the Library

Audrey Bokuniewicz, Waubonsee Community College

RA for All Roadshow Visits Reaching Forward -- ILA's Library Support Staff Conference

Today I am at one of my favorite Library Conferences-- Reaching Forward. This is put on by the Illinois Library Association as a library support staff focused conference. Back when I worked at the library, I used to take as many staff members as would fit in my minivan for the entire day.

The library paid all of our registration but me offering to take people way key. Why? Because there are a few barriers toward library workers getting involved in professional development especially at the conference level.

First, the paying for a conference. Often when we talk about library conferences usually only the librarians and managers get to go. We here in Chicagoland are lucky because ALA Annual comes through town every few years and with it, the systems offer discounted exhibit passes ($40 this year) to allow anyone to go. But the vast majority of library workers never get the chance to go to ALA or even their regional or state conference, purely because there are no funds for support staff to attend.

Second, even when there is funding, going to a library conference is a bit scary the first time. It is overwhelming. So many people, sessions, and the giant exhibit hall. Where do you go first? The great thing about Reaching Forward is, everyone is like you and the entire conference, including presenters, is there to mentors help, and guide. When the experience is tailored to the library support staff, they are treated as the top of the heap, and that matters; it makes them more comfortable.

Third, and don't underestimate this, lunch is included. This is more important that you think. Because everyone is given a sit down lunch with their ticket, everyone goes into the same giant room, there are dozens of tables. You pick one and sit. No assigned seating. Those of us who are the presenters are also there at lunch and we are encouraged to engage everyone in conversation and make them feel comfortable. You won't spend the time hunting for something to eat and sitting alone in a corner between sessions. You will be together with others and have great conversation. And again, because it is a support staff conference, you will meet other people who have a similar job to yours from another library. 

And finally, during the lunch two awards are given to library support staff. It is important that all library workers are honored for all they do, not just those with the masters degree. While almost everyone is NOT  one of the winners, seeing someone who does a similar job to yours, being honored by the Illinois Library Association, is an inspirational moment.

Click here to see the schedule and learn more about this year's Reaching Forward conference.

I am excited about my presentation this year, as I am reprising a program I was a part of a few years ago, and it is literally a program that can be described as the summary of what Reaching Forward is: 

Level Up Your Career: Professional Involvement Opportunities for Library Staff

Are you eager to grow personally and contribute professionally in the library world? Are you looking for more ways to become engaged in librarianship and gain more training without going back to school? Then this is the program for you. We will introduce you to the numerous committees and professional organizations you can beginning participating in right now. Your skills will grow while you network with library professionals and add positively to the entire library community. You will also hear from three people whose library careers all started as paraprofessionals but eventually followed very different professional paths. We want you! And you really can choose your own library adventure! 

Click here for access to my and Karen's slides and here for Rosie's handout. For the record, Rosie is doing all of her awesome stuff-- incoming chair of the Reaching Forward Committee, RAILS Board, REFORMA, presenting all over the country about bilingual programming-- all of it without a MLIS. We are speaking from experience. 

I will also be working at the RAILS booth from 12:30-1:30. And I will be at lunch as mentioned above. I will have a name tag on and will be wearing my "Ban the Fascists, Save the Books" T-Shirt for most of the day (Changing into RAILS t-shirt for booth time). Please come up and say hi. You will have an easier time identifying me than I will you. I will have stickers and pens to give out as well.

I know not all of my readers can be there, but please note that anyone can access the slides and handouts for all programs on this site. No password or registration needed. Click here.

RA for All Heads to the Illinois Library Association Annual Conference

Today the Illinois Library Association Annual Conference returns in person in Rosemont, IL. Click here for the conference website.

While I will be busy at the conference, I have set both blogs to keep posting. Don't worry, I have you non IL people covered. 

Not only is this the first time back in person since 2019 for the ILA Annual Conference, but also,  I am now an Executive Board member for ILA, so I have new roles and responsibilities. I am excited about it though. I love learning new things. So, on top of presenting and sponsoring this conference, I am working a 2 hour shift at the information desk for the Trustee Forum and I have a list of exhibitors I am responsible  for visiting and thanking. I am very interested in seeing how that goes and what feedback they have, both as an ILA Board member but also as someone who plans conferences as well.

But back to the event itself. I have 3 presentations, plus I will be at the awards luncheon because I nominated the Trustee of the Year winner! I will also be part of the Trustee Day breakfast, lunch, and forum meetup.

Here are some details with a secret coupon for all of my readers, not just those in attendance:

• Tuesday, October 18th Robin and I presenting our Actively Anti-Racist Service to Leisure Readers in 2 sessions. Both in room 40-41. We will spend the first session- 2:45-3:45- doing our foundational lectures and then the next session- 4-5- facilitating a discussion. You can click here for Robin's slides and here for mine. 
• Secret coupon alert! My last slide has details about the brand new, coming very soon, version of this training via NoveList with a coupon code.
• Please come to RAILS Executive Director, Dee Brennan's, retirement party from 5-7pm in rooms 26-29. It is free, but we are asking people to register here. Come anytime in the 3 hour slot, but there will be a short ceremony at 5:30. I will be there from 5-6:30.
• Wednesday, I will be around but probably will not have much time to attend sessions. Find me at the welcome table from 1-3 however. I will also be at the Membership meeting- 10:15-11:45. And the Exhibits opening w/lunch. 
• Thursday is Trustee Day. We have a breakfast, lunch and forum meeting which will take most of my day. I am also moderating: Get On Board: Encouraging Library Workers to Run for Local Library and School Boards. I will link the handout here to this post on Thursday.

Now for those of you not at ILA Annual. You can follow my adventures on Twitter through my handle or  the hashtag #ILAAC22. You can click through to see the Tweets whether or not you have an account or follow in the gutter of this blog where I post my Twitter feed for the things I tweet and retweet.

I hope to connect with some of you there. But again, for those not anywhere near us, both blogs will be running with content all week.