To the publishers of high-quality fiction for children and young adults,

We the K-12 Librarians, Teachers, Department Chairs, Administrators, Leaders, and Readers want to spend money on books for the new school year. If we hope to educate students equitably, to feed their minds, and to promote a life-long love of reading and learning--that feeds your bottom lines and your employees’ and authors’ families--we need your help. 

In light of :

* COVID-19 which has resulted in job loss and budget cuts due to drops in the state tax revenues that fund schools,
* the likelihood our schools will return to mostly online learning environments for a part if not all of the 20-21 school year and there will be limited access to physical materials, 
* the research-proven fact that our students need whole novels and diverse characters to build academic stamina that will allow them the opportunity to compete and find success for their futures,

We ask that:

* You make recent, diverse, award-winning, high-interest, best-of, and AP-list titles for children, tweens, and young adults available as multi-user access ebooks to schools so that we may incorporate them into our learning plans and not be forced to use lower quality, shorter texts that have open-access.
* You offer discounted, multi-user ebook access for titles that we have already purchased as class sets where, 
     --> 100 copies may have served 300 students in 4-5 sections of a course for 4-5 teachers and where,
     --> we will fall far short of equitable access to reading materials because the copies we have will not be able to be shared.

We sincerely appreciate the generosity shown this spring as you allowed more flexible copyright permissions to schools when we were forced to close our doors. We don’t expect continued handouts. We want to support you and the authors whose books we love, but we need solutions that fit within our budgets. Since metered licensing became the standard, multi-user access to new, diverse, and award-winning ebook fiction isn’t even an option for k-12 school libraries to purchase the way it is for public libraries. 

* Given the option, we will gladly purchase time-limited, multi-user licenses at rates comparable to those offered public libraries.
* Given the option, we will gladly purchase limited-checkout, multi-user licenses at rates comparable to those offered public libraries.

With sincere wishes for support and equitable solutions,

Anne S Ernst, Library Media Specialist Charlottesville High School
Charlottesville, VA
Alexis Mason, Instructional Coach Charlottesville High School
Charlottesville, VA
IdaMae Craddock, Library Media Specialist Murray Lab School
Charlottesville, VA
Stephanie Tatel, Literacy Coordinator Charlottesville City Schools
Charlottesville, VA
Annie Evans, Director of Education & Outreach
New American History at the University of Richmond, VA
Christina Tiffany, Library Media Specialist Burnley Moran Elementary
Charlottesville, VA
Luella Anderson, Instructional Coach Greenbrier Elementary School
Charlottesville, VA
Cicely Shelton, Library Media Specialist Venable Elementary 
Charlottesville, VA
Katie Plunkett, Library Media Specialist Greenbrier Elementary School
Charlottesville, VA
Monica Cabarcas, Library Media Specialist
Charlottesville, VA