NetLibrary Launches Nationwide Public Library Program
Top 100 Public Libraries to Receive Introductory eBook Collections
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – Jan. 14, 2000 – In an effort
to introduce electronic books to a nationwide audience of readers, NetLibrary will
purchase and provide 150,000 eBooks to the top 100 public libraries in the United
States in the coming months. The NetLibrary eBook Introduction Program was formally
launched today at the American Library Association Midwinter 2000 Conference here.
Participating public libraries will receive
free-of-charge collections of up to 1,500 eBooks from leading publishers. Those
libraries effectively will extend their hours of operation for this collection to
24 hours a day and provide access to eBook resources to their patrons wherever
they may be.
Libraries will have access to their eBooks
for six months, after which they may choose to purchase all or a portion of the
titles. In addition, they may choose other eBooks from the general NetLibrary eBook
which now stands at nearly 11,000 titles.
This introductory program is NetLibrary's first
initiative focussing exclusively on public libraries. NetLibrary previously concentrated
its institutional sales efforts on multi-member library consortia and academic
libraries. "When we established NetLibrary in August 1998, our initial drive was to
provide eBooks to the academic community," said NetLibrary President and Chief
Executive Officer Timothy R. Schiewe. "Over the past year, eBooks have become more
widely accepted by the public; this initiative recognizes the importance of the
patrons of public libraries as a growing base of eBook readers."
NetLibrary's trained staff of library professionals,
collection development experts, and publisher relations professionals is handpicking
eBook titles with the broadest popular appeal for public library patronage. Subject
areas featured in the introductory collection include general reference, careers,
business, investing, computers, health, travel, and more.
Titles featured in the eBook collection include
selections from ABC-CLIO reference handbooks, AMACOM books, Cliffs Notes, Health
Communications' Chicken Soup series, Harvard Business School Publishing, O'Reilly
computer guides, Macmillan's The Complete Idiot's Guides and SAMs computer guides,
McGraw-Hill business and computer books, The Rosen Publishing Group's Coping and
Careers series, and Scarecrow's Historical Dictionaries. In addition to the introductory
eBook collection of 1,500 titles, participating libraries will have access to an
extensive list of eBooks in the public domain, featuring classics in literature
and history.
The NetLibrary eBook Introduction Program
is designed to enable public libraries to incorporate eBooks in their collections
with minimal effort and expense. To receive an eBook collection, public libraries
must agree to purchase and integrate MARC for the 1,500 titles into their online
patron access catalog, participate in a training session, and display point-of-use
materials in their library locations. NetLibrary's account management staff will
maintain close contact with public librarians to ensure smooth integration of the
eBook collection and to track usage patterns.
"We are very excited about this program because
it will introduce highly functional and searchable eBooks to a much broader audience,"
said Schiewe. "When public library patrons begin to experience eBooks – some of them
for the first time – I believe they will be hooked on this new way of acquiring and
using information."
Boulder, Colo.-based NetLibrary (www.NetLibrary.com)
is the world's premier provider of eBooks over the Internet. NetLibrary has harnessed
the power of the Internet to provide convenient, anytime/anywhere access to nearly 11,000
eBooks from 120 different publishers. NetLibrary eBooks are full-text searchable and
can be highlighted and annotated digitally. Publishers whose books are available through
NetLibrary include AMACOM Books, Marcel Dekker, Harvard Business School Publishing,
Houghton Mifflin Company, McGraw-Hill, O'Reilly & Associates, and Oxford University
Press.
Contact:
Brian Bell
NetLibrary, Inc.
(303)381-8703
bbell@NetLibrary.com
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