eBook Partnerships: Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) and Two Colorado Libraries Announce Project

From a Colorado Independent Publishers Association Announcement:

We are pleased to announce a partnership between the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) and two Colorado libraries: the Red Rocks Community College Library and the Douglas County Libraries.
By June of 2011, the Red Rocks Community College and the Douglas County Libraries will not only offer eBooks from CIPA’s authors for checkout through their library catalogs, but will also allow click-through purchases of these titles.
This pilot program will help us introduce a new generation of writers to a new generation of readers. Some of those readers will become writers themselves; some will become the next generation of independent publishers.”
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“Libraries are natural partners with independent publishers,” said Joseph Sanchez, Director of Library and learning Services for the Red Rocks Community College. “We understand and value both copyrights and the great value of alternative viewpoints. We can easily integrate eBooks into our collections, ensuring one use at a time, but also exposing authors to precisely the people who are looking for them.”
“Connecting writers and readers is what we do best, through our two million visitors a year to our facilities and another two million through our catalog,” said Jamie LaRue, director of the Douglas County Libraries. “This project will demonstrate not only that libraries are firm supporters of the independent publishers through our willingness to buy and promote their works, but also that libraries and publishers can help each other grow the still-developing eBook market.”

Read the Complete News Release
See Also: From Canada: A Consortium of Publishers/Libraries Working Together: BC Books Online (Beta)
Hat Tip and Thanks: Peter Brantley

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Libraries, News, Publishing