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The remuneration to the author by the library and the charge the library may impose on ebook borrowers are 2 different things. I really can only speaker from a borrower's perspective.
Traditionally, libraries charged everyone in the community, the thought being that a literate society benefits us all. Libaries have never charged by use. I pay the same whether I don't use the library, or I borrow the maximum I can - I pay based on living in the community.
The question is whether offerring ebooks is so outside the purview of the traditional ibrary that it can be an add-on charge. I think not. If I were to be charged for ebooks, I would no longer be willing to support pbooks.
Libraries are in a fight for their lives in the current age. In our village, only children use the physical library. I am willing to continue to fund the library, especially the physical building, so long as the library continues to have relevance to me. I am not willing to continue to fund the library at the current amount ($500/year) if it stops being of any relevance to me.
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