High price of digital content forces libraries to make difficult choices

The Iowa City Public Library this month changed the materials made available to its patrons through one of its digital library services in an effort to cut costs.

The service, called Hoopla, allows library cardholders to borrow content such as movies, TV shows, music, audiobooks and e-books for free. It is available 24/7 and has no waiting lists, so items can be checked out immediately.

But libraries pay a fee per item checked out by patrons, ranging from 99 cents to $3.99 per item in Hoopla. The Iowa City Public Library has changed its collection offerings in Hoopla — one of several digital library services it offers — so that it doesn’t offer patrons anything that costs the library more than $1.99.

“The costs became too much for us to keep up with. We don’t make these decisions with relish,” said Anne Mangano, collection services coordinator for the Iowa City Library.

The Iowa City Public Library isn’t alone in trying to budget for the cost of digital materials, which are often far more expensive than print. According to the Urban Libraries Council, major publishers have imposed severe restrictions on e-book and audiobook lending models. This includes prices that far exceed print equivalents, time limits on titles purchased, and content that can be removed from the library with little or no notice.

“As digital technologies become increasingly inextricably linked to the way people learn, work, and interact, the ability of public libraries to provide access to e-books, audiobooks, and other e-content such as streaming films is more important than ever,” the Urban Libraries Council said in a statement this month.

The statement called on “major e-book and audiobook publishers and streaming services to implement fair, transparent and flexible licensing models for public libraries.”

According to the council, there has been a 34 percent increase in digital book borrowing since 2019 alone. “Without changes in the way libraries build their e-content collections, taxpayer-funded library budgets cannot adequately meet growing demand and provide equal access for all,” the council said in its statement.

Cedar Rapids Public Library has a limit on the number of digital checkouts a patron can make: 10 per month in Hoopla. “To make sure we don’t blow the budget for the year in two months, because that’s what can happen if you don’t have control over it,” said Dara Schmidt, the library’s director.

One of the other most popular options for lending digital materials is the Overdrive or Libby app. In this app, the library pays for titles that are then made available to patrons. There are often long wait lists — up to six months — for digital materials because the library can only “loan” as many titles of a single book as it has purchased.

For example, if the library pays for six copies of one book digitally, only six people can borrow that book at a time.

“When you buy a book, you own that book, but when you buy digital copies, whether it’s an e-book or an audiobook, it’s more of a rental fee,” Schmidt said.

Although libraries purchase digital copies of books, they often have to renew that purchase every two to three years (at two to three times the price of a physical book) to keep it in their catalog.

That’s also why there’s a limit to which titles are available digitally. Both Cedar Rapids and Iowa City librarians said they prioritize buying newer, trending books over repurchasing old catalogs. The most popular digital material the Cedar Rapids library distributes is adult fiction, particularly in the romance, fantasy and mystery genres, Schmidt said.

The Cedar Rapids Public Library splits its annual $650,000 book budget about 50-50 between digital and print materials, Schmidt said. That includes its downtown location and the Ladd Library in Cedar Rapids’ southwest quadrant. While local libraries share collections, the Marion and Hiawatha public libraries have separate budgets for their materials.

About 60 percent of the Iowa City Public Library’s annual book budget is spent on digital materials, Mangano said.

“Ideally, I’d like to have it reversed so it matches what people are borrowing,” Mangano said, since physical books still make up the majority of the library’s circulation.

Schmidt said the cost of digital materials for libraries is the “exorbitant price” of the sector.

“The costs are so high compared to the average consumer, and we are government agencies using taxpayers’ money, so how can it be acceptable that we raise prices for public use?” she said.

Erin Horst, Cedar Rapids library manager, said it might cost an individual $12 to buy a digital book from Amazon. “But I’m paying $70 for a library copy that’s the same thing. It’s something you try to explain to customers, because they say, ‘Why don’t you have more?’ And this is why.”

“We want to make sure we’re respectful of intellectual content and that everyone gets paid for the work they’ve done, but it’s too much for a public entity to keep up with,” Horst said.

Last year, Cedar Rapids Public Library saw a circulation of 950,000 print and digital materials. While the budget is evenly split, the number of print books checked out by patrons is still higher, Schmidt said.

“I probably have three or four books checked out on my phone right now, but I would much rather have a physical copy,” Schmidt said. “A lot of people will tell you they like the feel of a book, but I’m not going to carry five books around with me at once. The convenience of having it on my phone is great.”

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