Issues

In our increasingly digital world, accelerated technological innovation and unjust laws governing digital rights require librarians, policymakers, and community leaders to confront new challenges that will shape the future of libraries and our society.
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    Advancing Clear Policy Solutions

    Library lending is enshrined in the Copyright Act, and libraries provide broad access to information by lending materials without restriction. But the advent of digitization has uncovered weak points in current policy that must be addressed.

    We support digital lending that uses technology to mirror the library's right to loan legally acquired books under controlled conditions while respecting copyright.
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    Fighting Against Corporate Consolidation

    Consolidation among corporate publishers is affecting the quality, value, and price of the digital collections available to libraries.

    To ensure a fair digital future, librarians need access to a competitive marketplace of high-quality publishing partners and distribution platforms so they can meet the growing needs of their communities.
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    Promoting a Technology–Forward Future

    Technological innovations hold both promise and peril for libraries and public life.

    Librarians can and should engage with the technologies that have the potential to shape the future - including artificial intelligence, machine learning, publishing platforms, Web 3.0, surveillance technologies, and those that will emerge in the coming years.

A new approach to digital rights
for libraries and the communities they serve

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