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There are always multiple ways to look at things, but I don't look to children's authors for a good understanding of economics. Whenever someone wants a bigger slice of the pie, I think they forget that the best way to make money is to grow the pie, not the percentage of their slice. Libraries grow the pie of readers. People who read a lot buy more books, and the people who read the most usually cannot afford to buy all the books they've read. But they also tend to give books as gifts, as well as receive them. People who read little will buy little, or not at all, regardless of libraries and public access.
I figured out that I checked out about $10,000 worth of books from the library last year. Having four readers in one household makes a library very useful. And I can't tell you how pleased I am to watch my children get excited when they go to the library and can have anything they want off the shelves. The fact that we do this weekly, and that it doesn't break the budget, is how I'm training up a new generation of readers.
An author who loves books cannot help but be excited to go to a library and see people loving books. An author who loves themselves, who does not see writing as a giving but a taking, will never understand.
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