Royalties for Public Lending

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (or IFLA) has a very interesting and informative stance on the idea of Public Lending Rights that are all the rage in more and more countries. While I love authors (and make no mistake, I do love authors) I'm skeptical about the idea of authors being paid EVERY TIME a book is lent from the library. There has to be some kind of co-existence between the rights of the user who has bought the book: the library, and the author. Libraries have taken five steps forward in terms of serving the public through lending items that OF COURSE authors (and other creative artists) would rather individuals bought instead of borrowed. But there has to be balance.

IFLA says it much better than I ever could here.