Bloomsbury Public Library Online


The initiative was first launched in May 2009 as ‘Bloomsbury Library Online’, as an online access model offering themed digital bookshelves sold to UK public libraries on an annual subscription basis of £100 per 100,000 of the population served. Based on the UK population of 62 million people and an average of 10 books per shelf, each shelf potentially generates gross revenue of £62,000 when sold to all 151 library authorities.


Libraries provide the foundation for a lifelong love of reading and surveys show that library usage stimulates book buying (Reading Agency/Costa 6 Book Challenge).


Publishers benefit from upfront payments on subscription and lower discounts to intermediaries. Authors benefit from a shared royalty pool derived from the annual subscription revenue as well as a potential increase in their PLR payments through a resulting increase in physical book loans. Libraries benefit from improved issue figures and being relevant to their communities by providing a 24/7 remote access digital service using their existing infrastructure cost-effectively. New shelves are added on a monthly basis and include the latest bestsellers.


In March 2010, the initiative was rebranded as Bloomsbury’s Public Library Online as it expanded to welcome other publishers including Faber and Faber with a Poetry Shelf, Quercus with a Crime Fiction Shelf, and Canongate with a Canongate Bestsellers Shelf. Discussions are ongoing with other large and small UK publishers with a view to them joining this publisher-led library supply initiative.


Click HERE to learn more about Public Library Online


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