LEIPZIG, GERMANY— March 10, 2016 — As libraries around the world transform their physical spaces to meet customers’ changing needs, librarians are expanding their reach and role in the digital world. OverDrive, the industry leader in digital lending for public and school libraries serving 34,000 institutions worldwide, has enabled libraries to reach and engage more of their communities with eBooks and digital audiobooks for more than 12 years. Now, the service is expanding into Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Öffentliche Bücherhallen in Hamburg, Büchereien Wien in Austria and Pestalozzi-Bibliothek in Zürich, Switzerland are three of the first library systems to offer the OverDrive platform to their communities in these countries. To serve these libraries and others, OverDrive recently added Daniel Bräuer to lead business development and support services in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and to assist libraries with their digital shift. Based in Munich, Daniel has a business background with experience in the publishing industry. In publishing, he worked on different projects and co-founded a small non-profit publishing house. He also worked for a European eBook distributor.

To meet Daniel and to learn more about OverDrive, visit booth A23 at the Bibliothek and Information Deutschland Congress in Leipzig, March 14-17. The theme of this year’s Congress, “Library Spaces-Real and Digital,” addresses the transformation that is taking place in libraries around the world.

OverDrive’s commitment to supporting libraries and schools is driven through continuous innovation and improvements based on feedback from library staff members and educators. In 2015, more people across the globe visited libraries in their digital network and borrowed than ever before. Library readers borrowed more than 165 million eBooks, audiobooks and streaming video from their library’s OverDrive-powered collection, an increase of 20 percent over 2014. Audiobooks, in mp3 format, saw the largest growth in 2015, with an increase of 35 percent over 2014. Working with more than 5,000 publishers, OverDrive’s growing global catalog in more than 50 languages is unmatched, and includes more than 90,000 German language eBooks. International readers can also enjoy:

  • Over 660,000 English eBooks
  • 40,000 English mp3 audiobooks
  • 28,000 digital books in Chinese
  • 26,000 in Spanish
  • 25,000 in Italian
  • 16,000 in French
  • 12,000 in Russian
  • 8,000 in Japanese
  • 5,000 in Arabic

OverDrive’s app continues to be rated the best eBook app for libraries based on user ratings in the iOS® (Apple) and Google Play (Android) app stores. The app enables library and school users to borrow and enjoy eBooks, audiobooks and streaming videos, via smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops. OverDrive’s platform handles an average of six digital books borrowed per second (>500,000 per day).

To help meet increased global demand, OverDrive has introduced several key features to its platform including eReading Rooms for kids and teens, complete multilingual website interface available in 13 languages, OverDrive APIs for a seamless user experience, and fixed-layout EPUB3 and interactive eBooks. Readers can also enjoy eBooks and audiobooks in their browser with OverDrive Read and OverDrive Listen.

To see the latest eBook innovations and learn more, visit OverDrive’s booth A23 at the Bibliothek and Information Deutschland Conference.

 

About OverDrive
OverDrive is the leading digital distribution platform, supplying the industry’s largest catalog of eBooks, audiobooks, streaming video and periodicals to 34,000 libraries, schools and retailers worldwide. We support all major computers and devices, including iOS®, Android™, Chromebook™ and Kindle® (U.S. only). OverDrive delivers all digital media on a single platform, and offers innovations such as OverDrive Read, the breakthrough EPUB and HTML5 browser-based reading experience, and Read-Along eBooks.  Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA and is owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten. For more information, visit www.overdrive.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and our blog.

Contact:

Daniel Bräuer

Account Executive

Bibliotheken DACH

dbraeuer@overdrive.com

Phone: +49-176-98 68 26 84

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