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Support access to library eBooks

By SHARON KAY EDWARDS ~ Motlow State Community College
Posted 10/2/19

We're sorry, but there are 374 people ahead of you in line for our one copy of the eBook you've been anticipating all year. This is the message Tennessee libraries will be forced to relay to readers of eBooks published by Macmillan Publishers this fall...

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Support access to library eBooks

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We're sorry, but there are 374 people ahead of you in line for our one copy of the eBook you've been anticipating all year.

This is the message Tennessee libraries will be forced to relay to readers of eBooks published by Macmillan Publishers this fall.

As more and more people choose to read on their tablets and phones, Tennessee libraries strive to meet readers' needs both online and in-person. The Tennessee Regional eBook and Audiobook Download System, (R.E.A.D.S.) is an online library serving people in 91 rural counties -- and it is a staggering success. Last year, there were over 3.9 million downloads from R.E.A.D.S.

Did you see that number? Over 3.9 million titles were downloaded in rural Tennessee!

I don't know about you, but I live in rural Tennessee, and I know from painful experience why Governor Lee has made rural broadband one of his core initiatives -- cell signal and internet are unreliable and inconsistent. If R.E.A.D.S. experiences this much traffic in our current digital state, who knows how this number will increase as our digital infrastructure is improved!

This one statistic makes it apparent that many Tennesseeans now use digital content as their preferred - or only - access to books, and yet the two-month embargo on new titles, to be imposed by Macmillan Publishers on Nov. 1, will make it difficult for libraries to fulfill our central mission: ensuring access to information and content for all.

Libraries must remain vigilant about ensuring fair access, which is why we're asking Macmillan to reverse its new policy. Tens of thousands of readers have already added their names to a petition launched by the ALA, at eBooksForAll.org, and I'm asking you to do the same.

Let's rewrite this chapter in eBook access history so that library patrons in Tennessee will be able to read the books they want. We'd much prefer to send our readers the following message this fall:

Your eBook is ready to download.

--Sharon Kay Edwards is a branch librarian for Motlow State Community College and a legislative monitor for the Tennessee Library Association.