Thoth and the Distant Goddess

SUIMA

Kawase Hasui

"Yanagawa River, Chikugo," 1949

Public libraries offer readers the chance to enter into worlds of horror through classics such as Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” or Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” But Illinois librarians say a real horror story haunts them: e-book and audiobook licensing.

Libraries in Illinois pay more and receive less, said Monica Harris, executive director of the Reaching Across Illinois Library System. Some are being charged up to seven times more than the general public for identical e-books and audiobooks.

Unlike physical books, e-books and audiobooks are not owned by libraries but instead are temporarily licensed to them. After a set time or number of checkouts, libraries must repurchase the item or lose access to it — a repetitive and costly cycle that eats away at budgets.

“More and more taxpayer-funded library budgets are being eaten up by this licensing at unreasonably high prices,” Harris said. “The hold list gets longer and longer for the constituents who are trying to, you know, use these materials and many libraries are now spending almost 50% of their collection budgets on e-books and audiobooks.”