Simon and Schuster Expands Ebook Presence in U.S. Libraries With Full Catalog

Posted on January 19, 2014

Big publishers, including Simon & Schuster, have been wary about putting their ebooks in libraries. After a series of tests in New York City Simon & Schuster has finally committed to having its ebooks available in select libraries. Simon & Schuster has partnered with OverDrive to make the publisher's full catalog of ebook titles available to libraries lucky enough to be on the distribution list.

OverDrive is the biggest ebook distributor for libraries. Under this pilot launch the Simon & Schuster ebook catalog will be available to those libraries who are part of the pilot program. Patrons may check the books out or can buy the book through the individual library's website.

Fifteen U.S. libraries currently are part of the program which allows each ebook purchased by the library to be checked out an unlimited number of times on a one copy/one user basis for one year. If library patrons decide to buy the book that helps supports the library. New titles will be available the same day as publication.

Doug Stambaugh, Vice President, Global eBook Market Development and Strategy for Simon & Schuster, had this to say about the expansion of the program: "We are pleased to expand our eBook distribution in libraries through this pilot with OverDrive. We look forward to providing access to our titles to many more thousands of avid readers, and furthering our understanding of lending patterns and patron behavior with eBooks through this wider test of a new library model."

It's taken a very long time to get to this point, and we applaud Simon & Schuster for taking this step which will help keep libraries in existence as the digital revolution marches forward.