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Beginning on Could 1st, OverDrive app customers who nonetheless use it to digitally entry a library’s assortment will need to upgrade to Libby, a more moderen app from the identical firm that additionally permits you to lease library ebooks without spending a dime.
OverDrive’s digital platform began in 2002 and continued to function individually even after Libby launched in 2017. OverDrive is usually accessed by way of a library’s personal OverDrive web site occasion, however the app successfully has the identical objective of distributing writer books digitally without spending a dime, similar to Libby.
The OverDrive app was faraway from the Apple App Retailer, Google Play, and Microsoft Retailer as of February twenty third, 2022. The corporate stated it began displaying in-app discontinuation messages in July.
Some features of the legacy OverDrive expertise will stay on, as described in this FAQ: those that have already got the Mac or Home windows desktop variations of OverDrive will nonetheless be capable to entry libraries’ .overdrive.com websites to obtain audiobooks. These books can be transferred to devoted MP3 gamers, conserving them accessible for individuals who want them — though the corporate received’t present any new downloads of the software program.
The thought behind ceasing improvement and shutting down OverDrive is to shift the main focus of the corporate’s improvement groups to simply Libby, in line with the corporate. There was an inherent redundancy in working two apps that did basically the identical factor, and the corporate says it should make it simpler for libraries to advertise their digital content material and prepare customers.
Libby and OverDrive do have some variations, although, and a few options like OverDrive’s Suggest to Library function will probably be gone. The corporate factors out that Libby does have a Notify Me function that may assist categorical curiosity in particular titles and different options like help for a number of library playing cards, a unified bookshelf for all loans and holds, compatibility with Apple CarPlay / Android Auto, and extra.
OverDrive helps libraries put together for the transition by sharing an online resource kit to assist workers and library goers transition to Libby. US libraries have needed to bear the burden of an accelerated digital transition up to now few years as a result of covid, and each libraries and OverDrive have dealt with pressures from publication powerhouses like Amazon. Now, Libby is without doubt one of the few free methods to learn and hearken to books, which might be an indispensable method of garnering data and a crucial refuge once you want it essentially the most.
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