For years, libraries have struggled with how to make and lend digital copies of their print materials without violating copyright laws. The emergence of COVID-19 has shone a spotlight on this challenge, as remote access to resources has become even more important during the pandemic. Controlled digital lending, or CDL, can help.

CDL is a lending framework in which libraries allow users to borrow a digital copy of a physical book or other resource in a “lend like print” manner. According to ControlledDigitalLending.org, “A library can digitize a book it owns and lend out a secured digital version to one user at a time, in place of the physical item.”

There are three main ideas behind CDL:

1. A library must legally own a physical copy of the book in question.
2. The library must maintain an equal “owned to loaned” ratio, simultaneously lending no more copies than it legally owns. (For instance, if a library owns two print copies of a book, it could lend no more than two digital copies at the same time, or one physical copy and one digital copy.)
3. The library should use technology to prevent the digital file from being copied or redistributed by patrons.

What’s driving the use of CDL?

“The pandemic has magnified the need for remote access to library materials,” says Judith Fraenkel, director of product management for Ex Libris.

Ideally, libraries would purchase both print and electronic copies of any materials they acquire, so patrons can borrow items in the format of their choosing. But sometimes it’s just not feasible for libraries to do this. CDL offers a means for libraries to lend digital copies of print materials they already own in an ethical and responsible manner.

Providing digital copies of books and other materials not only improves the accessibility of these materials for patrons who can’t borrow a physical copy; it can also enrich the reader’s experience through enhanced functionality.

“Making a digital copy available provides a transformative experience beyond what a print resource can offer,” says Daniel Greenberg, a product manager for Ex Libris. Readers can search the text for specific words or phrases, for example, and they can enlarge the font size to accommodate print disabilities more easily.

Lending digital copies of books is a more expedient and eco-friendly alternative to shipping physical copies of the materials, such as within interlibrary loan systems. And, it helps preserve rare books and other fragile materials that could be easily damaged during shipping.

“The basic task of libraries is to be able to share the materials they own,” Fraenkel observes. In some cases, the best way to do this is for libraries to lend a digital copy of a resource they legally possess.

Technological requirements

To avoid violating copyright laws, libraries need a way to make sure they limit the total number of copies of a book in circulation at any time (both print and digital) to the number of physical copies they lawfully own.

According to the CDL framework, libraries should lend each digital version to a single user at a time, just as a physical copy would be circulated. They should also limit the loan period for digital copies to the amount of time they would allow patrons to borrow physical items.

The right Integrated Library System (ILS) can help libraries enforce CDL policies without violating copyright restrictions. In collaboration with its library partners, Ex Libris has created an advisory group to guide the development of new features within its cloud-based library solutions that support CDL effectively, so that libraries have the flexibility to implement this lending framework in a way that best meets their local requirements.

For example, users of the Alma Digital ILS and the Leganto course resource list management system from Ex Libris now have CDL capabilities when managing course resources owned by their institution. A new waitlist management feature helps academic libraries control the circulation of digitized textbooks and other course materials to conform with their institution’s CDL policies.

When a campus library digitizes a course resource and adds it to Alma Digital ILS, the system automatically ensures that the total number of copies in circulation doesn’t exceed the number of physical copies owned by the institution. When students request access to a resource that has reached its lending threshold, they’re added to a waitlist and receive a digital copy of the item only when it becomes available. This process can be initiated within Alma Digital, Leganto, or Ex Libris discovery services such as Primo.

Future enhancements to the Ex Libris suite of products will support CDL within other use cases as well, such as general circulation and resource sharing among libraries.

“We’ll support their workflows, but it’s the library’s choice in how best to apply CDL,” Fraenkel says. “They do the lending, and we provide the necessary controls.”

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