eBooks in the Public Library Conference

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“eBooks in the Public Library Conference” to Examine Growing Digital Book Adoption in Libraries

New York, NY (November 12, 2003) – Driven by complementary market forces, book publishers, technologist and librarians have found themselves united by the eBook. While publishers and technologists have been anxious to promote widespread adoption of electronic reading, public libraries have been battling sweeping budget cuts. Bring these communities together and a culture-shifting market opportunity emerges: over 16,000 U.S. public libraries lending eBooks to their communities 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.

To address the challenges and opportunities that eBooks pose for libraries, publishers and technologists, the Open eBook Forum, the electronic publishing industry’s trade association, will conduct the “eBooks in the Public Library Conference”, a day-long event scheduled for Tuesday, March 16th, 2004 in New York City.

“eBooks expand the role of the public library as the center of information distribution to our community and provide unparalleled access to new and important books,” said Patricia Lowrey, Head of Technical Services at Cleveland Public Library. “Today’s eBook formats and services offer our readers instant access to best selling titles, anytime, anywhere. The adoption of eBooks is a natural progression for the public library, building upon the growing reliance we’ve already seen for the services provided through our Web site.”

The conference will take place on Tuesday, March 16th, 2004 at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor, New York, NY.

Further details about the conference including agenda, registration and sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities can be found at www.openebook.org/library2004.

Event sponsors include Adobe Systems, Inc., American Library Association, Baker & Taylor, Greenwood Publishing Group and OverDrive, Inc.

The program Advisory Committee includes eBook industry leaders: Karen Coyle, Library Consultant; Patricia Lowrey, Cleveland Public Library; Judy Luther, Informed Strategies; Tom Peters, TAP Information Services; Susan Peterson, Baker & Taylor; Steve Potash, OverDrive, Inc.; Tom Prehn, Adobe Systems, Inc.; and Rick Weingarten of the American Library Association.

For more information, please contact John Roderick, 631.689.3038, john@jroderick.com.

About the Open eBook Forum:

The Open eBook Forum, www.openebook.org, is an international non-profit trade and standards organization for the electronic publishing industry. The organization is supported by membership dues and the generous support of Adobe Systems, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, OverDrive, Inc. and Palm Digital Media.

An OeBF member list and membership information can be found on the OeBF Web site at www.openebook.org.

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Nick Bogaty
Executive Director
Open eBook Forum
nbogaty@openebook.org
www.openebook.org
(212) 924-9081 direct
(212) 208-0978 fax