FOLLETT LIBRARY RESOURCES AND NETLIBRARY TO
JOINTLY DISTRIBUTE eBOOKS TO K-12 SCHOOL LIBRARIES
BOULDER, COLO. - 3 DECEMBER 1999 - NetLibraryTM(www.NetLibrary.com),
the world's premier provider of eBooks and information over the Internet,
announced a groundbreaking eBook distribution agreement today with Follett
Library Resources, the leading distributor of recorded knowledge to libraries at
schools, school districts, and other educational institutions serving the kindergarten
through 12th grade market.
Under the agreement, NetLibrary and Follett Library Resources will make eBooks
available to participating K-12 school libraries via the Internet. Relying on working
relationships it has developed with publishers for over 100 years, Follett Library
Resources will help NetLibrary select the most compelling content appropriate to K-12
students. NetLibrary will acquire digital version rights from the publishers and then
develop, manage, and distribute the eBooks using proprietary technologies.
The agreement also calls for Follett Library Resources to distribute eBooks currently
residing in the NetLibrary collection to the K-12 library market.
"Follett Library Resources is always looking for new, innovative ways to serve
the K-12 market," said Follett Library Resources Chief Executive Officer Ross Follett.
"Through our unique agreement with NetLibrary, we will be able to answer our customers'
calls for eBooks and all their flexibility and convenience."
In addition to better serving students in participating K-12 libraries, NetLibrary
and Follett Library Resources are developing business-to-business technical
solutions to respond to needs faced by teachers, librarians, and administrators in
the K-12 market, as well as publishers.
"By working together, NetLibrary and Follett Library Resources will be providing
an end-to-end solution to K-12 schools and libraries," said NetLibrary President and
Chief Executive Officer Timothy R. Schiewe. "This agreement also creates a new and
highly efficient distribution channel to better serve NetLibrary's and Follett's existing
publisher partners."
According to a study released in August by NPD Online Research, two out of
three children who have a computer at home use it to do homework, and 85 percent
of those students also use the Internet at home to complete school assignments.
"The generation of students currently passing through our K-12 schools is
the most wired and technically savvy generation yet," said Schiewe. "Imagine
the convenience and learning possibilities we can bring to these students
through this pioneering distribution agreement between Follett Library Resources
and NetLibrary."
NetLibrary (www.NetLibrary.com) offers anytime/anywhere access to an extensive
collection of reference, scholarly, and professional eBooks. Electronic
content may be viewed, searched, and checked out via the Internet by patrons
with a personal computer and an Internet browser. NetLibrary has signed
agreements with 100 leading publishers, including ABC-CLIO, Cambridge University
Press, Columbia University Press, Marcel Dekker, Houghton Mifflin Company, The
McGraw-Hill Companies, The MIT Press, and O'Reilly & Associates.
Follett Library Resources (www.flr.follett.com) is the leading national distributor
of books, audiovisual materials, and online services to libraries at schools, school
districts and other educational institutions serving the K-12 market.
Contact:
Brian Bell
NetLibrary, Inc.
(303) 381-8703
bbell@NetLibrary.com
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