C&RL News March 2020 154

S h a w n d a  H i n e s  i s  a s s i s t a n t  d i r e c t o r  o f 
c o m m u n i c a t i o n s  a t  A L A’s  P u b l i c  P o l i c y  a n d 
Advocac y O ffice, email: shines@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eShawnda Hines

ALA members host #eBooksForAll 
discussions with House leadership 
Negotiations between library community 
and Macmillan have reached an impasse. 
Since Macmillan Publishers’ eight-week 
embargo on sales of new e-book titles 
to libraries went into effect November 1, 
state library associations at every level 
have responded with ire and have taken 
a variety of actions to express their op-
position. 

At the ALA Midwinter Meeting in late 
January, Macmillan CEO John Sargent 
appeared before a room of librarians to 
explain the rationale behind the company’s 
new policy. The rationale was not received 
well. In a statement issued immediately 
following Sargent’s “Ask Me Anything” 
session, ALA President Wanda Brown said, 
“[H]e has not been listening to us. . . . We 
see only one acceptable outcome for this 
situation. Macmillan must lift the embargo.” 

As reported previously, in October 
2019, ALA submitted comments in response 
to a request from the U.S. House of Rep-
resentatives Committee on the Judiciary 
Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial 
and Administrative Law, to contribute to 
the Committee’s investigation into competi-
tion in digital markets. (Much of the report 
is dedicated to the challenges for libraries 
that purchase academic and research con-
tent.) In early February, the Rhode Island 
Library Association hosted Subcommittee 
Chair David Cicilline (RI-1) to discuss the 
impact of Macmillan’s embargo and how 
other players in digital markets are hurting 

his constituents and library users across 
the country.

Cicilline said he was “grateful that 
the Rhode Island Library Association put 
together today’s roundtable so we could 
discuss these issues in detail. I look forward 
to continuing our work together as the in-
vestigation wraps up and legislative fixes 
are introduced later this year.” He added 
that access to e-books was a concrete 
example of how the abusive behavior is 
impacting people, and he plans to include 
it in the investigation report, scheduled 
for release within the next two months. 
Cicilline also encouraged other advocates 
around the country to hold similar discus-
sions with their representatives, especially 
those who serve with him on the House 
Antitrust Subcommittee. ALA is facilitating 
similar engagements for ALA members in 
select congressional districts. 

ALA ready for fiscal year (FY) 2021 
#FundLibraries campaign  
The congressional appropriations cycle for 
FY 2021 officially begins with the release 
of the White House budget proposal, set 
for February 10. ALA expects the Institute 
of Museum and Library Services and other 
library-eligible funding programs to be 
eliminated for a fourth consecutive year. 
ALA takes this threat seriously, and urges 
advocates to contact their elected leaders 
to sign on ALA’s “Dear Appropriator” let-
ters in the House and Senate, in support 
of both the Library Services and Technol-
ogy Act and Innovative Approaches to 
Literacy program. Find your senators’ and 
representative’s signing history for these 
letters, and sign up to be an advocate at 
ala.org/fundlibraries. 

mailto:shines%40alawash.org?subject=
http://ala.org/fundlibraries