For immediate release:
EDMONTON, AB, January 14, 2019 – Public Libraries across Canada are hitting a roadblock when providing access to eBooks and digital audiobooks for their customers.
Demand for e-Content at the Edmonton Public Library is increasing by 20% per year, but major multinational publishers are charging excessively high prices, using restrictive purchasing models, and/or limiting public library access to a number of best-selling and prominent Canadian titles.
“Public libraries are a crucial part of the publishing industry. We are partners,” said Sharon Day, EPL’s Director of Branch Services and Collections. “Our core mandate is to provide access to information in all its forms to all members of our society, including those who may be unable or prefer not to come in to a physical library location. It is vital to a thriving democracy that public libraries are able to provide universal access to information.”
These challenges jeopardize the ability for libraries to provide access to content in all its forms to all customers. Digital content is the fastest growing area of borrowing for public libraries, with demand for audiobooks growing by 82% over the past three years at the six biggest libraries in Canada. The Canadian Urban Libraries Council is asking Canadians to help resolve these issues by demanding stronger #eContentForLibraries of major multinational publishers: Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster.
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About the Edmonton Public Library
The Edmonton Public Library (EPL) is proud to be 2014 Library of the Year! We’ve come a long way since 1913 when books were all you could find on our shelves… and we’re just getting started! Today, EPL carries everything you care about. We are Edmonton’s largest lender of all manner of information and entertainment. Our professionally trained staff take you beyond Google with the knowledge, discernment and desire to help you navigate a universe of information. The second most visited place in Edmonton, every year EPL hosts over 15.4 million in branch and online visits across our 21 branches and website. We deliver our incredible content to you everywhere – in the library, at home or on your handheld device. Unmatched access and unrivalled value – that is today’s EPL. EPL is a registered charity and relies on donations to enhance services. Spread the words. www.epl.ca/give
For more information, contact
Karen Chidiak
Marketing and Communications Manager
Edmonton Public Library
Office: 780-405-0617
Email: karen.chidiak@epl.ca
