Smashwords also distributes to libraries through Baker & Taylor's Axis360 and plans to add
other library aggregators.
Not exact matches
Ingram is a huge
aggregator of books, ebooks, and
other content for the retail market, and today I learned that they're entering the public
library market as well.
My gut says that most
libraries will continue to opt for working with
library aggregators such as Baker & Taylor, 3M Cloud
Library, and
others, because
aggregators manage all the headache for the
library, and also enable smaller purchases (this is why we will continue to aggressively support our
library aggregator partners, both current and future - we want to give all
libraries the broadest range of choices).
A small break came in the impasse when
other groups besides publishers and
aggregators began making ebooks available to
libraries, like authors, author groups, agents, booksellers, and smaller publishers.
One last point: Overdrive, Netlibrary and
others (
aggregators of content who broker licenses on behalf of
libraries) are not the answer.
We also had the opportunity to engage with
other parts of the book ecosystem besides publishers and
aggregators, such as authors and author groups, agents, booksellers, and smaller publishers who were making ebooks available to
libraries.
Sowards here points to two possible challenges
libraries face with subscription services: First, there may be overlap and duplication because
libraries already have purchased some books found in those eCollections through
other channels and in
other formats, and second, titles are sometimes pulled from eCollections — often without prior notice to the subscribing institution — because contractual agreements between publishers and subscription - package
aggregators may be subject to change.