Bibliotheca to Begin Commercializing Douglas County Libraries eBook Model, Launching eBook Division

Biblotheca is a leading supplier of RFID services.
Today, the company announced the launch a new ebook division that will be led by Monique Sendze, who was formerly the Associate Director of Information Technology at the Douglas County, CO Libraries.
The new service is scheduled to launch at the beginning of 2013.
From a Bibliotheca Announcement:

The company will build upon the concepts originally designed and developed by the Douglas County Libraries, CO (DCL) to enable libraries, first in North America and then around the globe, to meet the many challenges that the emerging world of eBooks presents.
Monique Sendze, Associate Director of Information Technology at DCL, will be joining Bibliotheca to lead a new Bibliotheca eBook division. “My heart belongs to libraries and I have devoted many of my waking hours over the past two years to making DCL’s eBook solution a reality. I am excited by the opportunity to take what I’ve learned at DCL to make eBooks more affordable and user friendly for libraries and their patrons throughout the world.”
Objectives of Bibliotheca’s eBook model include lower acquisition costs through a library cooperative buying platform, seamless integration with all major ILS to create a user-friendly environment for patrons, and expansion of digital content made available by publishers to libraries. Bibliotheca looks to help the library community achieve these objectives through installation, customization, technical support and hosting services.
“We at DCL came to the conclusion that the existing eBook models did not present a viable long term eBook solution, functionally or financially,” states Director Jamie LaRue. “The DCL model is predicated on ownership, discounts, and integration. Bibliotheca’s eagerness to test and take our model to the global market is significant – a game-changer. It has the potential to restore purchasing power to libraries, predictability and fairness to the publishing environment, and greater access to content for our public.”
Shai Robkin, President of Bibliotheca in the Americas states: “We have been paying close attention to the frustrations libraries have expressed with the existing eBook delivery models while, at the same time, watching the exciting work being done at DCL. While our focus to date has been on providing libraries with the best tools possible for managing their physical collections, we are uniquely positioned to provide them with robust e-content delivery solutions. In this context, we are also excited by the potential to integrate eBook delivery into our existing self-service kiosks.”

Direct to Bibliotheca eBooks Web Site/FAQ

What makes Bibliotheca’s eBook approach different from others?
Unlike existing proprietary models, Bibliotheca seeks to support the excellent work that is already being done by libraries to make eBooks more widely available to library users, more friendly to library budgets, and more fully integrated with libraries’ ILS/LMS.
How will libraries save money on the purchase of eBooks?
Working in partnership with the library community, Bibliotheca will support a cooperative purchasing platform that will aggregate eBook purchases and provide a secure Digital Rights Management environment in which publishers can deliver content. The cooperative will allow libraries to enjoy discounts that publishers make available to eBook resellers.

Read the Complete FAQ

Filed under: Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Funding, Libraries, Management and Leadership, Patrons and Users, Publishing