It is hard to find the time and skill to get things done. But if you've got lots of unsatisfied patrons bitching about the current offerings, someone will eventually do something about that.

Doing things piecemeal is an inefficient pain in the ass, tolerable only if it's less of a nuisance than the current options, which it might or might not be. I think the better idea is to compile one or more big bundles of ebooks, based on some simple userights -- maybe "This book is a free sample; everyone can read it and even copy it if they wish." and "This book is a library copy, readable temporarily, but all your patrons can read it at once if they wish." If the terms are more favorable than other options, people will want it, the stacks will get bigger, and eventually it will outcompete the stupid predecessors.