Library ebook pricing fight could fracture Libby wait times by state
Libraries pay about four times retail for ebooks and audiobooks, and bills in Illinois, New Jersey and other states aim to change those terms.
A Substack newsletter by Tim, creator of ReciproCard, reported that libraries are typically charged about four times the retail price for ebooks and audiobooks, with a new audiobook that costs about $21 on Audible costing a library about $90. The outlet reported that bestselling ebook licenses from major publishers commonly expire after about two years or a set number of checkouts, requiring libraries to repurchase them.
The outlet reported that a group of Washington libraries bought a Susan Mallery ebook for $15.99 in December 2023, then repurchased it for $22.44 in June 2024 after its 26 checkouts were used up, and were about to buy it again for $25.81 — a total of $64.24 to keep one copy available, compared with $14.99 on Kindle with no expiration. The same libraries needed six copies of Mallery's newest ebook, for $203, according to the outlet, and in Seattle 62% of the library's digital book spending in 2023 went to extra copies of titles it already owned.
The outlet reported that libraries have asked major publishers for better terms for years, while publishers and authors say the prices are fair and that library lending cuts into sales. With no agreement reached, some states have passed their own laws and bills are pending in Illinois, New Jersey and other states, according to the outlet. Readers borrowed more than 820 million ebooks and audiobooks through Libby and Sora in 2025, about 11% more than the prior year, the outlet reported, while libraries face budget cuts.
Here's the part worth sitting with: your book's wait list isn't really about how popular it is, it's about how many copies your library could afford at library pricing. One group of Washington libraries paid $64.24 total to keep a single Susan Mallery ebook available through three licenses, for a book that costs $14.99 on Kindle and never expires there. If a handful of states pass their own rules while others don't, the terms your library operates under could start depending on its zip code, not just its budget. Watch what happens in Illinois and New Jersey — it's your readers' access on the line, state by state.
From the Coral Wire edition of Fri, Nov 6 2026 · Coral Index 28/100 (Storm warning)