Report: “In Digital-First Era, NJ Librarians Demand More Affordable E-Books”

From the New Jersey Monitor:

New Jersey librarians and lawmakers who joined forces to fight book-banners a few years ago have a new target: publishers whose restrictive e-book licensing agreements have shrunk digital access for library users.

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Such practices would become a violation of New Jersey’s consumer fraud law under a bill Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-Middlesex) introduced last month. Zwicker led the push in 2024 to limit book bans in public schools and libraries and protect librarians from lawsuits and criminal charges filed by people who find library materials obscene or otherwise objectionable.

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In a law Connecticut passed last year to compel industry changes, legislators included a trigger clause, meaning it only takes effect when one or more states with a combined population of 7 million people pass a similar law.

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Shelley Husband is executive vice president of government affairs at the Association of American Publishers. She said legislation like New Jersey’s has been ruled unconstitutional in federal court.

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