Macmillan’s Ebooks Now Available to Library Consortia

September 25, 2014

OverDrive announced this week that Macmillan has lifted its restriction on licensing its ebooks to library consortia. Of the Big 5, only Hachette now has any restriction on consortium access and they continue to evaluate consortia on a case-by-case basis.

Alison Lazarus, Macmillan Sales Division president, confirmed in an email that the publisher has been working with its vendors to amend their agreements to permit licensing to consortia.

Regional and statewide consortia play an important role in providing access to ebooks for millions of library users nationwide. While the largest public libraries can afford to license their own digital content and invest in the technical infrastructure to integrate it into their discovery platforms, many smaller public libraries must rely on resource sharing consortia for these services. With Macmillan’s announcement, four of the Big 5 are now onboard and we move a step closer to equity of access for all.

An updated chart showing the current state of libraries and ebooks from the Big 5 is now available.

ROBERT C. MAIER is a member of the ALA Digital Content Working Group.