PROVO, Utah - March 9, 2004 - Dynix, the world's leading provider of automation technologies, solutions, and services for libraries, announced today that Burlington County Library System (Westampton, NJ), a Dynix customer since 1984, has launched an eBook service to its 300,000 cardholders using the Horizon eBooks Library service. The new service, which provides an initial offering of roughly 700 titles, is the first live project resulting from Dynix' partnership with OverDrive, Inc., announced in September 2003.
Burlington County's eBook collection is fully integrated with its Horizon Information Management System and is available online 24 hours a day through Horizon Information Portal. Phase one of the library's eBook collection features adult general fiction and popular non-fiction, along with a few books of children's fiction and some reference titles. The library will aggressively expand its eBook collection in the coming months based on feedback from its users.
"Our eBook service was immediately very popular with users and well received by the community," said Gail Sweet, Director of BCLS. "Our borrowers are attracted to the novelty of the service, and they are very excited about not having to wait in reserve lines for our most popular books."
To use the eBook service, patrons must simply go to the library's eBook Web page, where they can browse titles, check out books, and download eBook files. Additionally, eBooks are also listed in the main library catalog with the "eBook" format indicated in the title. The necessary viewing software for laptop and desktop computers, Pocket PCs, and Palm PDAs, either Acrobat Reader or Palm Reader, is provided through a free download at Burlington County's eBook Web site.
A revolutionary aspect of the program is that BCLS will also begin lending PDA devices to eBook borrowers in mid-March. "We want to give all of our users the opportunity to enjoy eBooks and to learn about PDAs," Sweet said. "With this service, all of our users will have the opportunity to load up a PDA and head on vacation."
When asked about potential risk of loss when lending such expensive equipment, Sweet said she had complete faith in the trustworthiness of the library's users. "We introduced a similar program with DVD players when we added DVDs to our collection, and we didn't have a single problem," she said.
Burlington County's customer service experience with both OverDrive and Dynix was flawless during the process of establishing the eBook collection and making it available to users. "We've always had a great relationship with Dynix," Sweet said, "and we've had no complaints with OverDrive-everything has worked out extremely well."
"We are happy to congratulate Burlington County Library System as the first customer of our new Horizon eBooks Library service," said Dynix President and CEO Jack Blount. "Burlington County provides the library community with a wonderful example of excellent customer service being delivered through creativity and the use of new technology."
"As a provider of eBook solutions to leading libraries around the world, we're extremely excited about working with Dynix to help Burlington County get its new system online," said Steve Potash, founder and CEO of OverDrive. "We are excited to watch their collection grow as more and more people discover the convenience and benefits of eBooks. And we're excited about our continued work with Dynix as more libraries take advantage of the new Horizon eBooks Library service."
About BCLS
The Burlington County Library System is composed of branch and member libraries from each corner of Burlington County, NJ. Each location brings to the system a unique blend of collections and resources that highlight local as well as general interests. The Burlington County Library System also has a large network of member libraries that maintain a close association with the Burlington County Library System. Member libraries are located in Beverly, Burlington, Crosswicks, Delanco, Florence, Mount Holly, New Gretna, Riverside, and Vincentown. Burlington County's online eBook service is located at ebooks.bcls.lib.nj.us.
About OverDrive
OverDrive (www.overdrive.com) provides eBook solutions for leading retailers, publishers, and libraries in the United States and abroad, including Adobe, Sony Electronics, Random House, and others. OverDrive is a strategic partner to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Adobe Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) and Mobipocket S.A, based in France. The company is a Gold Sponsor of the Open eBook Forum. OverDrive was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.
About Dynix
Dynix is the global leader in new-name sales of library management systems and has the largest installed customer base of any library technology vendor. As a committed advocate of the library community, Dynix serves academic, special, school, public, and consortium libraries in over 40 countries. Dynix has more than 100 professional librarians on staff and proven experience in software leadership. Since 1983, Dynix has provided customers visionary technology solutions that support the latest industry standards and offer intuitive functionality. For complete corporate information and a guide to Dynix products and services, visit www.dynix.com.
