Utah’s Grand County Library has joined a statewide boycott of Macmillan Publishers, because of its new policy that limits access to its books.
Nearly 70 public libraries in Utah, including the Grand County Library, join a nationwide boycott of Macmillan because of its new policy that limits access and increases costs for new books, said Josh Loftin, spokesperson for the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts.
The immediate six-month boycott is supported by Utah’s Online Public Library Overdrive Consortium, which includes 69 libraries statewide. The decision to begin the boycott was unanimous among the seven voting members who attended the consortium’s nine-membered administrative committee meeting on November 13.
Throughout the United States and Canada, libraries and library systems are protesting a decision by Macmillan, one of five major publishers, to only allow the purchase of one copy of new eBooks for the first eight weeks after release. After the eight weeks, libraries can only purchase additional metered copies at a premium price, and they will not permit the sharing of eBooks among members of the consortium, said Loftin.
The Utah State Library, which operates Utah’s Online Library, will honor the consortium’s decision and will not purchase any new eBooks from Macmillan until at least May 2020.
Macmillan’s eAudiobooks, as well as physical formats such as print or CD, are not impacted by the boycott.
