eBooks in Libraries: “Startup Atingo Promises ‘Radical’ Approach to E-Book Library Lending”

Atingo is being developed by Publit, a company based in Sweden.
From a Guest Column in Publishing Perspectives by Jonas Lennermo, CCO of Publit:

One of the most important things when developing those missing pieces is to realize that the library is a marketplace for the publisher. The more money the publisher makes on the back of the work being done by libraries, the more books libraries will get from the publisher. To make this happen, a neutral meeting point for publishers and libraries is crucial. That is why today we are proud to announce a new company that promises to “radically change the conditions for the lending of ebooks at the library”: Atingo.
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Publishers look at e-lending as a threat to their business, arguing that it might cannibalize print sales or even block the rise of a commercial ebook market altogether. Libraries on the other hand, may lose their role altogether if they lose access to ebooks. The only thing that is bigger than their mutual fear, is the mutual opportunity for collaboration.
The library has the potential to take the lead in the creation of a new digital ecosystem, by setting the requirements for the development of the infrastructure for it. For the publisher, on the other hand, the library is a market place and needs to be treated like any other retail channel. As the founders of Atingo, we strongly believe that the emerging digital ecosystem needs a neutral technology provider that is able to bridge the gap between the publisher and the library. That is our offering.
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Publit has developed an interface that connects the publisher with the library directly. Thanks to this common dashboard, now used as the technological platform at Atingo, publishers and the libraries are for the first time free to negotiate price and availability in real time.

Read the Complete Guest Column, Includes Embedded Video (via Publishing Perspectives)
See Also: Atingo Web Site
See Also:  The Swedish Model: Or How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Ebook Lending (via The Literary Platform)
Hat Tip: @naypinya

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