As has been widely reported, HarperCollins announced Friday that for new titles released on or after March 7, library ebook vendors will be able to circulate these titles a maximum of 26 times before the license expires and libraries will need to buy a new license. The news first emerged in a letter from OverDrive CEO Steve Potash to member libraries, which at that point said the distributor was “required to accept and accommodate new terms for eBook lending as established by certain publishers.” The letter further noted that the new limits apply to “all eBook vendors or distributors offering […]
Libraries
Library Thing Publisher Pages
LibraryThing.com has launched a new free service, LibraryThing for Publishers, starting with Orbit, Zondervan and three other publishers. Open to all, the new feature is designed to let publishers “showcase their new titles and interact with the LibraryThing community.” The pages display bookshelves of the publishers’ titles, link to LT reviews, and more.DescriptionOrbit Books sample
NEA Cuts Big Read Budget
Earlier this month the NEA awarded $1 million in grants for The Big Read program to 75 non-profit groups. That’s down from $3.7 million to 267 groups last year. NEA spokeswoman Liz Stark told the St. Louis Dispatch that the program was scaled back because it is now established and the NEA wants to “fund it at a sustainable level.” She said other groups are expected to take over funding and planning.St. Louis DispatchOriginal NEA release
eDeals: Symtio Sold to Libre Digital; Overdrive Adds Disney and Partners with Internet Archive, As IA Invents Their Own Rules for Lending Older Titles As eBooks
Zondervan has sold the technology and infrastructure behind their Symtio business to LibreDigital (in which Zondervan parent HarperCollins is also an investor). The sale covers “the Symtio e-commerce technology, existing e-commerce contracts and applications, and key e-commerce staff,” but not Symtio’s retail card business, which the release says ” Zondervan is in negotiations to sell separately.” It’s a curious bifurcation, since Symtio has always promoted their “digital product cards” as the heart of the business that lets physical retailers sell and activate cards that allow the downloading of digital media. LibreDigital ceo Russell Reeder says in the announcement they will […]
Baker & Taylor Buys Blackwell NA; Sells UK Branch
Baker & Taylor announced yesterday they are buying Blackwell Book Services North America to integrate with YBP and Australia-based James Bennett bookseller (also owned by Blackwell). In turn, they are selling their UK unit Lindsay and Croft to Blackwell UK. Also, “Baker & Taylor’s YBP Library Services and Blackwell U.K. have entered into a strategic sourcing agreement under which YBP Library Services will source all U.K.-published academic material from Blackwell U.K., and Blackwell U.K. will source all U.S.-published academic material from YBP Library Services.”Release
Google to Partner with France's National Library
Even as opposition swirls, Google Books continues to make deals with national libraries, the most recent being the Bibliothque Nationale de France (BNF) after a four-year battle. BNF director of collections Denis Bruckman described the decision to La Tribune as “purely financial”, as France provided only ¬5 million a year for digitising books for Gallica, the national digital library, yet the national library needed up to â¬80 million (£68 million) just for its works from 1870 to 1940. “We will not stop our own digitising programme, but if Google can enable us to go faster and farther, then why not?”Times […]