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6/16/2026
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Assembly passes bill to help libraries provide audio books, e-books to the public
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Legislation targets restrictive, expensive contracts publishers demand of libraries
STATE HOUSE – The General Assembly has passed legislation sponsored by Rep. Lauren H. Carson and Sen. Mark McKenney to rein in e-book and audio book contracts that place expensive and burdensome restrictions on public libraries.
The legislation (2026-H 7606Aaa, 2026-S 2525Aaa), which passed the General Assembly Thursday and now goes to the governor, places limits on contracts between publishers and public libraries for e-books or audiobooks, restricting such contracts from including provisions that charge libraries more than the public would pay, make libraries’ licenses expire after a limited number of uses or months or place other restrictions on public libraries that result in high costs and long waits for titles.
“Publishers have figured out they can wring money out of public libraries by putting onerous restrictions on them and them alone, essentially forcing them to rent electronic copies of books over and over instead of buying them the way everyone else can,” said Representative Carson (D-Dist. 75, Newport). “The result is that libraries are spending a fortune on licenses for electronic versions of books that disappear when they expire, and the wait list for many titles is in hundreds. Publishers are purposefully throttling public lending access for audiobooks and e-books in the name of profit and to the detriment of public libraries.”
Said Senator McKenney (D-Dist. 30, Warwick), “Libraries are public institutions with a mission to provide access to information to all people, so that cost is not a barrier to anyone who wants to learn and expand their horizons. Targeting libraries with cost-prohibitive restrictions that don’t apply to anyone else is preventing them from fulfilling their mission and draining taxpayer-funded resources.
This bill is informed by other states’ experiences in this area of law, and harnesses the collective power of libraries statewide and in other states to demand fair treatment of libraries, safeguard public resources and protect libraries’ important role as the gateway to information for everyone who comes through their doors.”
According to the Rhode Island Library Association (RILA) and librarians who testified in support of the legislation, most publishers charge libraries much more — as much as 10 times more — than consumers for licenses for e-books and audiobooks. On average, a single license that can be checked out by one patron at a time costs of $73 per e-book and $85 per audiobook. In most cases, those licenses expire after one or two years or a certain number of checkouts, often 26. Some publishers outright prohibit libraries from purchasing some digital works.
For a bestseller, that means libraries pay hundreds or even thousands, with no limit, for time-limited access to a single title, while they could buy a printed copy for one much-lower price (which is often discounted so libraries pay less than the public), and lend it for decades without any further cost.
The result is that libraries cannot afford to come close to meeting the demand.
In her testimony for the bill, RILA Vice President Kiki Butler gave the example of “The Correspondent, a novel by Virginia Evans. Currently, there are about 1,500 readers statewide on waitlists for either the audiobook or the e-book. Rhode Island libraries have already spent more than $3,400 for digital licenses of this book, most of which expire at the end of 2026. Even if no one else joined a waiting list for it, it would cost another $2,300 for enough licenses for those already waiting, bringing the total to more than $6,000 for one book that expires just months from now.
“Under this licensing scheme, Rhode Island libraries are effectively penalized for fulfilling their public mission,” wrote Kyle K. Courtney, a copyright attorney, librarian and Founder and Board Chair of the eBook Study Group, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring equitable public access to information through fair and sustainable library e-book licensing, in testimony supporting the bill.
The legislation focuses on contract law as the legal means for changing this equation.
It prohibits publicly funded libraries from entering into or renewing digital licensing contracts that include certain restrictive provisions that are incompatible with core library functions and long-term public access, especially those that interfere with essential library operations and stewardship, such as terms that block interlibrary loan, restrict a library’s ability to build a usable collection, bar preservation copying, impose excessive or discriminatory pricing compared to consumer prices, or force libraries to accept only expiring licenses without any reasonable pathway to permanent access.
The legislation is based on a similar law passed last year in Connecticut. To ensure that the bill results in negotiating power for Rhode Island libraries, the provisions of the law will not take effect until at least four other states with a combined population of at least 10 million people enact substantially similar laws.
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Whitty, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-1923
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