Written by: Micah May

At this year’s ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, I had the pleasure and honor of co-hosting the American Library Association Ebook Interest Group’s annual meeting, better known as Ebook Friday. Here are some of my takeaways:

Energy and momentum: Over the course of more than a decade, I have seen interest in library ebook and audiobook distribution and Ebook Friday ebb and flow. This year it was definitely flowing. Since the first Ebook Friday meetups, which took place in then-ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fields’s personal hotel suite because the official event had not allocated a room, the energy of libraries focused on the fight to provide access to digital books has dramatically increased. This year’s Ebook Friday included well over 100 participants and, more importantly, many strong and organized library leaders pushing for better access on multiple parallel fronts. With the ALA, the Urban Libraries Council (ULC), and ReadersFirst all advocating for change and an impressive alliance of state libraries driving legislative reform to ensure libraries can lend digital content on reasonable terms, the libraries at Ebook Friday were stronger and better organized than ever before.

State legislation: Library advocates from five states discussed legislative measures to protect libraries’ ability to purchase ebooks on reasonable terms. Last year (2025), with an overwhelming bipartisan majority, Connecticut pioneered consumer-protection legislation prohibiting public libraries from purchasing digital books under certain unfavorable terms. Connecticut’s law included a population trigger clause and will go into effect when states representing a combined population of at least 7 million people enact similar laws.

Rhode Island very recently passed similar legislation, which, like Connecticut’s, is based on consumer protection laws and follows a model developed by the eBook Study Group. Rhode Island’s law includes a four-state trigger clause and lies dormant awaiting two more states. Illinois, Minnesota, and New Jersey also gave updates on efforts to enact similar legislation. The advocates representing these states included:

  • Rhode Island: Ed Garcia
  • New Jersey: Jennie Pu
  • Illinois: Monica Harris
  • Minnesota: Sherry Wichitchu
  • Connecticut: Ellen Paul, CT Library Consortium

Push for Fair Terms: Many of the state bills hinge on what is reasonable for publishers to charge libraries. ReadersFirst representatives Michael Blackwell and Carmi Parker delivered a granular breakdown of what constitutes “fair and balanced” terms, suggesting that publishers should offer perpetual-use licenses and models metered by the number of checkouts rather than by time. They expressed openness to paying more than retail for perpetual access to digital books, perhaps up to 3x the retail price for bestsellers. There was also a push for metered licenses, ideally at or below $1 per lend, with the recognition that adjustments are appropriate based on the book’s length and popularity, as well as for YA and eAudio.

Library leaders stepping up to advocate: Angela Goodrich shared an in-depth update on behalf of the ULC eAction Team, which has developed toolkits, principles and a powerful joint statement, all available here. Angela framed the current situation as a crisis, sharing that ULC members spend over $300M on licensing digital books. The ULC group has concluded that “time-metered ebook licenses (e.g., 1 or 2 year licenses) rarely are a responsible use of taxpayer funds; library licenses should be based on usage.” Lisa Varga, Associate Executive Director of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Public Policy and Advocacy Office based in Washington, D.C., and Library Journal‘s 2024 Librarian of the Year, also shared an update about ALA’s federal and regional policy strategies. 

Libraries paying attention to price: Library leaders from the Urban Libraries Council discussed their collection development strategies, noting that they are purchasing more copies of titles on reasonable terms and avoiding titles that are too expensive to be sustainable for libraries. This discussion, led by Amy Mykel of Brooklyn Public Library, also included Nicole Allen from Greenwich Library and Jessica Russell from Sno-Isle Libraries in WA. While all three librarians presented somewhat different collection development strategies, they are working to ensure that the value offered is reflected in library purchasing, i.e., that the library buys more copies when the title is offered on fair terms and that, when the terms are less reasonable, few copies are acquired. The result will be longer hold queues on some best sellers and greater availability of indie titles from publishers willing to work with libraries. 

Amy suggested that folks interested in this topic watch the Digital Shelf Webinar, “Hacking the Holds List,” from May 7th. The recording is available here. 

You can browse the slide deck here.

Broad participation: Ebook Friday is an open, free event that convenes library leaders, publishers, and vendors, with teams from Hoopla, Overdrive, and publishers like Penguin Random House in the room. In keeping with long-standing tradition, Ebook Friday wrapped up with fast-paced lightning talks, including a surprise address from new Overdrive CEO Marc DeBevoise, as well as:

  • ARSL, Sherry Scheline
  • Benetech, Robert Laurie  
  • Palace Ownership Model, Micah May 
  • Internet Archive / Our Future Memory, Chris Freeland  
  • Library Futures, Layla Maurer 
  • Palace Project, Michael Atwood
  • RAILS Boundless Transition, Anna Behm 
  • Project Gutenberg, Eric Hellman
  • CALIFA, Paula MacKinnon 

After the lightning talks, participants broke into groups to discuss important topics, including: 

  • Legislation: How to respond to publisher pushback, how to introduce legislation, state solutions
  • Advocacy: How to explain the issue in 15 seconds, how to change hearts and minds
  • Collection development best practices for digital: Managing staff capacity, leveraging holding, funding and buying decisions, different models
  • National community building and communications after ALA: Discord? Other summits? Events?
  • Digital ownership + Legal challenges
  • Vendor relations and consortial buying: Utilizing the marketplace, improving competition, talking to vendors about issues

Thanks to Ebook Friday sponsors: De Marque, Ingram, Library Futures, and Lyrasis for sponsoring the event and making it possible to provide snacks and refreshments.  And a huge thanks to my co-chair Ellen Paul as well as Michael Blackwell, Amy Mikel, and Jennie Rose Halperin, who all participated on the organizing committee and helped make this event a success. 

Onward! There is strong momentum and interest in continuing the conversation. With Ellen Paul and the other members of the planning committee, we plan to find ways to keep the conversation going. Make sure you’re signed up here to receive occasional emails and stay in the loop, and tune in to next year’s event!