SoA calls out ‘meagre’ Public Lending Right funding as consultation launched 

The Society of Authors (SoA) has welcomed the launch of a government consultation into the Public Lending Right (PLR) scheme, which provides authors with an income of up to £6,600 from loans of their books from libraries in the UK.

However, it has also called for the “already meagre” PLR fund to be increased and for volunteer-run libraries to be included in the scheme.

Yesterday (28th June), the government launched a consultation running until 6th August on proposals to empower the British Library to move towards collecting comprehensive loans data from all library authorities in the UK, “to ensure authors benefit accordingly to get their fair share", and remove the requirement, in certain circumstances, for an application for registration of a posthumously eligible book to be made by the deceased author’s personal representatives.

This would mean a person registering books for the first time after inheriting from a deceased author may not need to have a solicitor/executor involved in making the application, "providing for a more efficient and less burdensome administration process" according to the government.

Chief executive of the SoA Nicola Solomon said, “We welcome the administrative updates on the table", describing PLR as “an important source of earnings for authors, particularly those whose  books are sold mainly to libraries and those whose books are no longer in print but are still being read".

Moreover, she emphasised that the scheme ensures that funds reach a wide range of authors, beyond bestsellers, which “is essential if we want to encourage diversity in writing. PLR is a simple and effective means for the government can support writers and do it fairly, in a targeted way at modest cost,” she told The Bookseller.

However, she added that greater funding was urgently needed: “We urge the government to take this opportunity to ringfence and increase the already meagre PLR Fund. Taking into account the UK population, our PLR funding is well below that of comparable EU countries. At £6m, net of administration costs, it compares poorly with the £14m paid out annually in Germany (£11.2m on a population-adjusted basis at current exchange rates).”

Moreover, the SoA is also calling on the government to include volunteer-run libraries within the PLR scheme, “so that true figures for library lending can be recorded and remunerated”, and to also take the opportunity to make “appropriate regulations to ensure that school and other libraries are included in the PLR scheme".

She said: “It remains a breach of the government’s obligations as well as unsatisfactory and unfair that all libraries other than public libraries should be exempt from remunerating authors for loans,” adding that the government should “fulfil its obligation to provide a ‘comprehensive and  efficient’ library service and to protect and maintain current services which under serious threat. This is only possible with improved funding for public libraries, including additional funds to purchase book stock.”