Connecticut House of Representatives Passes Bill to Create Statewide Ebook Platform

From The Day:

The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill [HB 5477] on Wednesday that aims to lower the price of electronic books for public libraries over time by having the State Library Board set up a statewide platform for e-books.

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The hope is that publishers will give better prices to the State Library Board, which would be representing all public libraries, compared to an individual library.

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If the bill becomes law, it would give the State Library Board the power to create a statewide computer platform for distributing e-books to local libraries and their visitors. An e-book is a book that can be downloaded and read on computers or electronic devices such as tablets.

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The program would cost $2.2 million to set up, according to the nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis. It would cost $1.1 million to write the code for the computer platform and $1 million for the initial purchase of e-books. The library board would be expected to absorb annual costs for staff and maintenance, estimated to be $100,000 in future years.

Read the Complete Article

See Also: Full Text of Bill (HB 5477)

See Also: HB 5477 Status Page

See Also: Transcript of General Law Committee Hearing about HB5477
March 11, 2014

Background

• Ebooks in Libraries: Slides From the Connecticut State Library’s Ebook Symposium (March 6, 2014)

• Connecticut’s Dept. of Consumer Protections Releases Report on Availability of Ebooks in Public Libraries (February 14, 2014)

• Connecticut: Governor Signs eBook-Public Library Availability Study Legislation Into Law (May 30, 2013)