OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sSB-1234
AN ACT PROHIBITING LIBRARIES FROM AGREEING TO
CERTAIN TERMS IN ELECTRONIC BOOK AND DIGITAL
AUDIOBOOK LICENSE AGREEMENTS OR CONTRACTS.
Primary Analyst: DD 3/18/25
Contributing Analyst(s): CF, LG
Reviewer: JS
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 26 $ FY 27 $
Library, CT State GF - Potential
Savings
None See Below
Constituent Units of Higher
Education
OF - Potential
Savings
None See Below
Note: GF=General Fund; OF= Other Funds
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 26 $ FY 27 $
Various Municipalities; Local
and Regional School Districts
Potential
Savings
None See Below
Explanation
The bill results in a potential savings annually beginning in FY 27 to
the Connecticut State Library (CSL), municipal libraries, and libraries
operated by local and regional school districts and the constituent units
of higher education. It does so by prohibiting certain provisions in
licensure and contract agreements between libraries and electronic book
publishers.
To the extent the bill produces e-book lending terms that are more
favorable to libraries, the bill may result in a savings beginning in FY 27
to publicly funded entities statewide that provide e-books. As an
illustration: In FY 25, it is anticipated that CSL will spend approximately
$196,700 on e-book content. Of that amount, it is estimated that $20,600 2025SB-01234-R000132-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 2
is associated with repurchasing content with expired licenses. The bill
prohibits e-book contracts from including restrictions on the duration of
such licenses unless certain conditions are met.
The extent of the potential savings depends on contract terms, the
cost differential between e-books and traditional books, and the extent
to which interlibrary loan access reduces a library's need to
independently purchase content.
The Out Years
The ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the
future subject to inflation and contract terms.