Macmillian

Beginning November 1, 2019, Macmillan Publishers will allow libraries to purchase only one copy of each new eBook title for the first eight weeks after a book’s release. This applies to systems as well, so we will only be able to get one copy for the entire system of a new Macmillan book until the eight weeks is up. I will be sending the following email to our customers who have used Overdrive so that they are aware. ALA created a website for a petition to sign in hopes that it would stop Macmillan from doing this. If you wish to sign it, feel free - ebooksforall.org. Let me know if you have any questions about this email going out to customers. I will be sending the email Thursday evening, 10/17.

Hello Overdrive/Libby user!

We’re so happy that you are using our downloadable eBook services, and we hope you're finding just what you need.

We wanted to let you know about a change in the availability of some of our eBooks that you might notice soon. Beginning November 1, Macmillan Publishers will allow libraries to purchase only ONE copy of each new eBook title for the first eight weeks after its release. This means there will be fewer copies of many titles from your favorite authors – such as Tom Clancy, Janet Evanovich, Oprah Winfrey, Heather Graham, Stephen King and many more – so your wait times will be longer until we can purchase additional copies after the eight weeks.

Macmillan is just one of many popular publishers, and this ​change will only affect​ the book titles they and their subsidiaries (Tor, St. Martin's Press, and Farrar, Strauss & Giroux) publish. Books from​ other publishers, including HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Penguin Random House, will not be affected, so you can continue to enjoy fast service and low wait times for those books.

And did you know that audiobooks are now the most popular form of books? If you are an audiophile, try our Hoopla audiobooks that are always available to check out with no wait times. Thrillers like “The Other Woman” and “If She Knew”, humorous non-fiction like “Girl, Wash Your Face”, page-turning fiction by Liane Moriarty, Lisa Jewell, and A.J. Finn – are available with no wait times.  

Depending on your reading habits, this may not have a big impact on you, but if it does, know that we are working with other libraries to try to address these changes. If you’d like to read more about it or sign the petition, visit ebooksforall.org.