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I'm glad to see people being understanding about this change. I'm fortunate to have a very good local library, but I can see how remote access could be good for a lot of folks. Unfortunately, with the prices for e-books that libraries must pay, there's no way they're breaking even on the service. The kind of people who seek out and subscribe for remote access are going to be heavier users. Issy's back-of-envelope numbers show that the library is likely losing money on those remote users, who are being subsidized by the local users whose taxes support the place. Add in the additional delays local users might experience because of borrowing by remote users and the principle of providing access to as many people as they can trips over the reality of budget.
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