Columbus Metropolitan Library, in partnership with 18 other libraries in the Digital Downloads Collaboration, was the first in Ohio to join the boycott. Here’s a list of libraries/systems boycotting Macmillan eBooks.
Publisher’s Weekly released an update on the situation in the most recent edition of The Week in Libraries: November 8, 2019:
It’s now been a week since Macmillan’s controversial embargo on new release e-books in libraries went into effect, and library supporters this week are continuing to ramp up the pressure. Among developments this week, a meeting between Macmillan CEO John Sargent and a group of state librarians; a statement of opposition signed by 77 elected officials across the U.S. and Canada; and a growing number of libraries announcing their decision to boycott Macmillan titles.
Urban Libraries Council CEO Susan Benton said its Statement on Equitable Public Access to E-Books was issued in direct response to Macmillan’s embargo, although it calls attention to broader restrictions impeding the work of libraries. Developed by ULC in partnership with the Canadian Urban Libraries Council, the statement “serves as a platform for city and county leaders to show their support for the vital role that libraries play,” and it comes after federal lawmakers in the U.S. widened an ongoing antitrust investigation on digital competition to include the library market last month.
“By signing the Statement on Equitable Public Access to E-Books, North America’s mayors and county executives are sending a powerful message they will not stand for the extreme restrictions e-book publishers are placing on public libraries, jeopardize their essential role as engines for democracy,” Benton said, in a statement.
Meanwhile, at a nearly two-and-a-half hour meeting, which took place on November 4, at COSLA’s fall membership meeting, in Hartford, Connecitcut, Macmillan CEO John Sargent tried to explain the embargo to a delegation of state librarians. It sounds like it was a cordial meeting, but that there was little new to report—librarians remain opposed to the embargo and highly skeptical of its rationale, and Sargent sounds convinced that library e-books hurt his revenue, and is committed to seeing the embargo through. Next up, Sargent has committed to hearing librarians at the upcoming ALA Midwinter Meeting, in January 2020.
And finally, as we went to press a week ago we’d heard confirmations from about half a dozen libraries regarding their intention to boycott or otherwise limit their Macmillan purchases in response to the embargo. That number is now over 30, and growing.
A library e-book boycott is, of course, an extraordinary measure. But I think back to Sari Feldman’s July PW editorial. “Where will we librarians and library supporters draw the line? When will we say that access terms and pricing have become too oppressive?” I wonder, has that moment arrived?
In a release this week, Multonomah County Library (Oregon) director Vailey Oehlke eloquently captured the thinking behind the Macmillan boycotts.
“This is not a decision we take lightly. It means that the library has chosen to side against one specific company, something I would prefer to avoid. Our decision also means that some library patrons won’t be able to access popular authors in their preferred format and I regret that fact,” Oehlke wrote. However, she added, “when you can only buy something from one source and the terms of that purchase become this unreasonable, it’s time to say no more.”