Maryland Legislature Passes Bill Supporting Library Access to Digital Content By Andrew Albanese | Turns out there is something that can garner broad bipartisan support: public libraries.
This week the Maryland legislature became the first state to pass legislation that would ensure libraries can license e-books and other digital literary content that is available to consumers. And in a strong sign of support for libraries (especially in these politically divisive times) the bill passed the Maryland General Assembly (both the House of Delegates and the State Senate) unanimously.
First introduced in January, the bill (HB518 in the House of Delegates and SB0432 in the Senate) would require “a publisher who offers to license an electronic literary product to the public to also offer to license the product to public libraries in the State on reasonable terms that would enable public libraries to provide library users with access to the electronic literary prod
Amazon is withholding ebooks and audiobooks it publishes through its own in-house publishing arms from US libraries, according to a new report from The Washington Post. That’s because it doesn’t like the terms involved with selling to libraries that then loan out versions on platforms like Libby.
By Andrew Albanese | Feb 26, 2021 In a blog post this week, OverDrive CEO Steve Potash said he was proud of some of the “incremental gains” made in the library e-book market in 2020, but insisted that the work of establishing “fair, flexible, and reasonable terms” for libraries and schools to acquire and lend digital content is far from over.
“What began as a single model for e-books 20 years ago is constantly evolving,” Potash writes, adding that OverDrive’s ongoing advocacy efforts on behalf of libraries “are even more critical now given how the pandemic is impacting schools and public libraries. “Last year we saw meaningful progress with dozens of publishers enabling more affordable options for acquiring rights to their collection,” Potash writes. “But we are still searching for the Holy Grail access model.”
Jan 29, 2021
MARQUETTE Northern Michigan University has received a $100,000 grant to launch UPLINK, a collaborative, regional digital network that will enable Upper Peninsula heritage organizations to preserve historical manuscript collections and offer online public access.
The two-year project is being supported by a National Archives’ National Historical Publications and Records Commission implementation grant.
NMU will be the home base for the project archivist. It will also serve as the principal service hub among three in the region capable of converting photographs, text and analog audio-visual media to a digital format.
“The U.P. supplied much of the mineral and timber resources that fueled industrialization in the United States during the latter half of the 19th century and through much of the 20th,” said NMU Archivist Marcus Robyns, who initiated the effort. “Despite this important past, the U.P. has struggled to identify, collect and preserve its documentar
(Cheyenne, WY) – The Wyoming Places database has joined the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). A total of 3,051 items went live on DPLA over this past weekend and can now be accessed at dp.la as well as places.wyo.gov. Wyoming Places is the second database to be shared from the Wyoming State Libraryâs six digital collections, the first being the Wyoming State Publications database with nearly 30,000 items.
âWyoming Places is the place to go when you have a question about a past or present location in the state or previous territory of Wyoming,â said Jessica Otto, Wyoming State Library Collections Technician, âIâm happy to see it exposed to a much larger audience, especially during a time when the world is heavily reliant on virtual accessibility.â