Maryland’s new vague Digital Content Law, compelling publishers to license digital books and audiobooks “on reasonable terms that would enable public libraries to provide library users with access to the electronic literary product,” is considered by publishers to be blatantly unconstitutional. But it has yet to be challenged in court, so the Maryland Library Association is moving forward in advance of implementation at the beginning of 2022 to explain what they believe comprises “reasonable terms.” While the law does not define the terms any further, the MLA believes existing terms “often may not have been defined as ‘reasonable’ by library […]
Libraries
Initiatives: B&T Adds Diversity Tool
Baker & Taylor will release a Diversity Analysis tool to help libraries “discover, manage, and report on diversity-related topics.” According to the release, the tool will allow libraries to analyze physical and digital collections and identify gaps. EVP and general manager of Baker & Taylor Amandeep Kochar said, “Creating and managing a collection that encompasses the wealth of human experiences can be complex and time consuming, which was our inspiration behind creating Diversity Analysis.” The service will be available this month for B&T customers. In May, Ingram Library Services launched a similar assessment service to help public libraries “diversify their […]
Corporate: OverDrive to Acquire Kanopy
Building on their initiative to provide a broader catalog of digital content to libraries, OverDrive announced that it is acquiring video streaming service Kanopy from private equity investor L Squared Capital Partners. The streamer provides 2,300 academic institutions and public libraries with a catalog of over 30,000 films. Kanopy is used by millions of students and library patrons and is available on all major web, mobile and TV platforms. OverDrive CEO Steve Potash says in the announcement, “The Kanopy apps and streaming viewing experience are excellent services to further benefit our network of public libraries and academic partners.” The release […]
Amazon Publishing Reaches Library Deal
Amazon Publishing will finally make their titles available for lending to library patrons in the US, working with the non-profit Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and the SimplyE ereader app created by the New York Public Library. Starting this summer, and applying to their full catalog of approximately 10,000 ebooks and audiobooks, Amazon Publishing will offer four different licensing models. They say, “We expect that libraries will be able to access all of the Amazon Publishing titles by the end of the year.” For access by one reader at a time, they provide for either unlimited lends in a […]
People, Etc.
After the recent restructure of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Simon Pulse senior editors Jen Ung and Nicole Ellul will join Simon & Schuster Children’s, reporting to Kendra Levin; and editor Sarah McCabe will join Margaret K. McElderry Books, reporting to Karen Wojtyla. At Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Shannon Spisak has been promoted to senior director of global marketing & communications and Jenna Marson to manager of global marketing & licensing. Mariana Garavaglia has joined Wiley’s board of directors. Currently chief people and business operations officer at Peloton, she was previously managing director for the Amazon Books and Amazon 4-star stores. […]
Briefs: Bookselling News, and More
Bookselling Barnes & Noble‘s Upper East Side location in NYC has closed permanently. B&N said to PL: “We can confirm that we are to close our bookstore at 86th St. and Lexington Ave. The store has served us well over the years but is now too large, and too expensive, for our needs. We have therefore made the difficult decision to close the store to focus energy and resources on improving our other bookstores in New York City.” The store closed in March due to COVID-19 and B&N is in “active pursuit of a new site” in the area. B&N […]