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I didn't used to notice who the publisher of a book was, but the way most of them treat libraries has changed that.
When I hear of a book that sounds interesting, I look to see who publishes it. If it's Random House, I know their is a strong chance it is available at the library. This equates to "good publisher" in my mind. Guess which publisher's books I am more likely to buy, even though they do agency pricing?
Before agency pricing, library restrictions for ebooks (or flatout denial of sale to libraries) and then the U.S. Justice Department's case against the Apple and the Agency five, most readers were not aware of specific publishers. That is increasingly changing. Their treatment of libraries regarding ebooks may affect their sales of ebooks and pbooks.
Actions have consequences. If I can't try out your books at the library, I'll probably not buy one from the store.
I know, I can always get in my car and drive to the library to get the pbook. But I'd rather not. So the sale doesn't happen.
Increasing the amount of times a library has to "purchase" an ebook means there are less funds for the library to spend on other ebooks/pbooks. So, again, less books get viewed by the reading public which leads to less sales for the publisher.
In my opinion, it is a good business practice for publishers to allow libraries to purchase their products. They owe the libraries nothing except the chance to provide them with new customers. More product exposure results in more sales.
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