What Goes Into Providing Digital Services at Libraries?

Libraries offer many free services to their communities, making them a lifeline for people who can’t afford to pay for those services themselves. One of the most essential resources libraries provide is digital access. It’s a necessity in today’s world—one not everyone can afford—so libraries have worked to close the digital divide by offering a variety of digital services, such as e-books, audiobooks, and databases.

These services are particularly indispensable for people who struggle to visit libraries in person, such as those living in rural areas, individuals with disabilities, or those with limited transportation options. Yet not many people realize just how complicated offering digital services can be for libraries.

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The Reality of Offering Digital Resources

E-books and audiobooks are quite popular, with usage on the rise (according to a Pew Research Center study), and libraries have tried to keep up with the demand. For many libraries, though, offering digital services isn’t just about ensuring their patrons can read the latest digital bestsellers. Libraries play an important role in improving digital equity, ensuring that all individuals and communities have the information technology resources needed for full participation in society, democracy, and the economy.

While borrowing an e-book is free and relatively easy for patrons, it takes a lot of effort behind the scenes to make things run smoothly. Digital services require significant staff time, negotiations with vendors, and technical upkeep. Libraries must hire and train people to maintain these services and help patrons use them. Many libraries also employ at least one digital services librarian, who is responsible for developing and maintaining a library’s digital resources collection, as well as handling user support and back-end maintenance.

However, one of the biggest hurdles for libraries to acquire and maintain digital resources is funding, as reported by Government Technology. For physical books, libraries can buy a copy with a one-time purchase, often at a discount, and they then own that copy permanently. Things are not so simple when it comes to e-books.

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The Cost of Digital Access at Libraries

Libraries usually can’t buy an e-book outright. Instead, they have to license it for a period of time, often two years, and must continually renew that license to keep the book in their collection. Publishers also put restrictions on which books can be licensed by libraries, so there are many that simply aren’t available.

The average hardcover book tends to cost around $20, but many popular e-books cost around $55, as highlighted in an ALA article on e-book equity legislation—and that fee has to be paid each time the license is renewed. For audiobooks, the price is even worse, with some costing $73 or more. Due to these prohibitive licensing costs, libraries often have to stop carrying certain media over time, resulting in a limited digital collection.

At the Spokane Public Library, the price they pay for e-books and audiobooks alone makes up more than a third of their annual $1.5 million materials budget, and they still don’t have enough digital copies to meet demand. Smaller libraries especially struggle to afford digital licensing fees, and some have had to stop offering certain resources altogether.

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When Libraries Lose Digital Services

With the increase in both licensing costs and funding cuts in recent years, some libraries have had to make the difficult choice to stop offering some digital services. For example, the Nashua Public Library had to discontinue using the streaming platform Hoopla due to being charged each time a patron borrowed an item, a practice the library referred to as “unsustainable.”

When millions of dollars in grants from IMLS were suddenly halted, libraries had to scramble to reduce their budgets. Digital services were some of the first things to go. The Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System in Mississippi had to freeze access to Hoopla. Patrons flooded the libraries with calls, asking why they could no longer access their e-books. The Mendocino County Library in California had to cancel not only Hoopla but also Kanopy, Pronunciator, ProCitizen, and GrantFinder.

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC), which is in charge of libraries across Massachusetts, has also had to make significant cuts to digital services. They had to cut thirty out of the thirty-four databases they had been offering. Students could no longer access vital educational resources, affecting their school performance and ability to learn.

They also had to temporarily freeze applications for the wifi hotspots they lend out to patrons. Hotspots help connect students, job seekers, and other people without home internet with remote learning options, telehealth appointments, or the ability to fill out online job applications. This loss could affect patrons’ educational and professional opportunities.

For many patrons, the problem with losing digital services isn’t about not being able to finish the novel they were reading. For people who depend on libraries for digital access, being cut off from those valuable resources can take a serious toll. In a major blow to digital equity, patrons can lose access to the resources and skills-building that are necessary to live and work in our digital world.

It’s not just the educational and professional toll that hurts people, though. There is also the deep emotional toll that the loss of these services has on the most vulnerable. When digital services are cut, patrons who can’t access libraries in person lose access to important, enriching resources they won’t be able to access elsewhere. That cuts an essential lifeline to the rest of the world and the people around them, reducing their ability to participate in society and connect with others.

All is not lost, however. Many people are fighting back against the rising costs of licensing fees and the cuts to government funding. Several states have proposed bills aimed at lowering the costs of digital services, and advocates continue to fight for libraries to be fully funded.

You can help support digital access at libraries by voting in favor of library budgets or by contacting your local officials about introducing new legislation in support of digital equity. You can also tell your local library staff how much you appreciate the digital resources they offer and all the hard work they do to support those resources.

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