The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has published The Modernization of Public Libraries: A Policy Statement. The report runs 64 pages, but Resource Shelf has found a couple of statements about ebooks:
Recommend all local authorities have a ‘national core offer’ for the public, comprising membership from birth, free access to the internet, a right to order any book to borrow (even those out of print), free access to e-books as the market grows, opening hours to suit users, and an opportunity to be a member of all libraries in England;
The government will impose a statutory ban on libraries charging for ebooks, including remotely, the review states. It will, however, extend the public lending right to non-print books. Free access to the internet in all Britain’s libraries should be provided by 2011, it says.
See the Resource Shelf article for all the particulars.
