OverDrive’s browser-based OverDrive Read™ allows seamless reading on any device with a modern web browser and now optimizes the reading experience on desktop and mobile devices for a variety of graphic children’s titles, comics, and other illustrated titles as beautifully as the author and publisher prepared for print. This EPUB3 fixed-layout breakthrough gives OverDrive partners unprecedented access to thousands of never-before-available eBooks, including highly-illustrated series of DK titles such as Ancient Rome and Star Wars Jedi Battles, as well as iconic and popular children’s titles like Corduroy and Armadilly Chili from publishers such as Penguin and Albert Whitman & Company.

Over 100 public library and school systems are live with OverDrive EPUB3 fixed-layout titles in their digital collections, including the New York Public Library and Toronto Public Library. Educational publishers are also leveraging the transformative power of fixed layout, with Britannica Digital Learning alone offering 250 early-learning titles.

“OverDrive further extends our leadership with open industry standards utilizing HTML5 along with EPUB3 to open the door to a new world of content for our library and school partners,” said Alexis Petric-Black, OverDrive’s Manager of Publisher Account Services. “The materials and solutions OverDrive partners invest in have long-term compatibility due to this use of open industry standards.”  

OverDrive has been a long-standing advocate for open eBook standards, which allow eBooks to reach the largest audiences of readers because they are not created in a device-specific format. CEO Steve Potash was a founding member of the Open eBook Forum, which produced the first open standard, the Open eBook Publication Structure (OEB), in 1999. Under Potash and OverDrive’s stewardship, the Open eBook Forum would become the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), and in 2007 released EPUB2, a replacement for OEB. EPUB3 was introduced in 2011.

“OverDrive has been a leader in the development and proliferation of open industry standards for 20 years (including through the widespread use of our APIs), because those efforts are tied so intrinsically with our company’s mission: To help as many people as possible discover and enjoy great eBooks,” Potash said.