ALA Extremely Unhappy With Random House's Price Increase to Libraries for Ebooks
The American Library Association ("ALA") has issued a statement formally asking that Random House reverse last week's decision to raise the price charged libraries for ebooks. The ALA is quite unhappy about the price hike.
ALA President Molly Raphael had this to day about the increase:
"While I appreciate Random House's engagement with libraries and its commitment to perpetual access, I am deeply disappointed in the severe escalation in ebook pricing reported today. Calling on our history together and our hope to satisfy mutual goals moving forward, the American Library Association strongly urges Random House to reconsider its decision. In a time of extreme financial constraint, a major price increase effectively curtails access for many libraries, and especially our communities that are hardest hit economically.
*****
"Finally, we recognize and thank those publishers and aggregators that have worked with libraries on e-book lending models at a time of significant disruption and change. Libraries must have the ability to purchase a wide range of digital content at a fair price so that all readers have full access to our world’s creative and cultural resources, especially those who depend on libraries as their only source of reading material."
Ms. Raphael closed her plea by discussing the role of libraries in the modern world: "Libraries belong at the center of this digital revolution, not on the periphery. We continue to seek partners to further our shared goals of connecting readers and authors well into the 21st century."
Random House' price increase went into effect on March 1st. The publisher said that ebooks can be lent to many more people than a paper book; therefore, the price should be higher.
