OverDrive, Inc. is a worldwide digital distributor of

ebooks An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the comput ...

s and

streaming video Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...

titles. The company provides

digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures, such as access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM ...

and download fulfillment services for publishers,

public libraries ''Public Libraries'' is the official publication of the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). It is devoted exclusively to public libraries. The print edition is published six times a year and i ...

, K–12 schools, colleges, universities, corporations, legal industries, and formerly retailers. The largest commercial provider of ebooks, audiobooks, and other digital content such as streaming videos in the world, a 2023 report estimated its market share as perhaps being upwards of 90%.Rachel Noorda and Kathi Inman Berens
"Digital Public Library Ecosystem 2023"

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

. ^:11 OverDrive operates the ebook and audiobook app Libby, the Video streaming app Kanopy and the educational app Sora.

History

OverDrive was founded in 1986 and originally converted analog media to digital formats, such as interactive diskettes and

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

s. In 2000, the company opened Content Reserve, an online

eBook An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

and downloadable

repository from which its distribution business developed. Before entering the library market, OverDrive distributed eBooks to online stores. In 2002, OverDrive was selected as the distributor of

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

’ eBooks to the publisher's online retail stores. OverDrive launched web stores for

Harlequin Enterprises Harlequin Enterprises ULC (known simply as Harlequin) is a publisher of romance novel, romance, women's fiction and various other genres under multiple publishing imprints. Founded in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1949, from the 1960s, it grew into the l ...

in 2005. In 2008, OverDrive announced that it would provide download services for Borders Books. On September 21, 2011, OverDrive began supporting Kindle public library book borrowing. In 2012, the company announced a series of service upgrades, including a browser-based eReader, and audiobook

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

, which enabled access to audiobooks via the company’s

OverDrive Media Console OverDrive Media Console was a proprietary, freeware application developed by OverDrive, Inc. for use with its digital distribution services for libraries, schools, and retailers. The application enables users to access audiobooks, eBooks, peri ...

app. The company also developed a media station, which allows users to browse their library's digital collection on touchscreen monitors and internet workstations. An API is available which allows developers to integrate OverDrive content into various apps and platforms. The company announced a partnership with LexisNexis to provide the LexisNexis Digital Library, a customized eLending platform for the legal library market. Nokia partnered with OverDrive to launch Nokia Reading, an eReading app and service for Nokia's Lumia 900, 800, 710, and 610

Windows Phone Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design languag ...

devices. In 2014, OverDrive completed its headquarters in the

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

suburb of Garfield Heights, Ohio. In April 2015, Rakuten bought OverDrive for $410 million, with the deal set to close in April 2015. OverDrive CEO Steve Potash remained in his position and OverDrive kept its name while operating under Rakuten USA. In 2019, it was reported that private equity firm KKR would be purchasing OverDrive from Rakuten. The estimate market value was $775 million in 2019.^:11 The acquisition was finalized in June 2020. In June 2020, RBMedia sold its library assets to OverDrive; this includes RBDigital, an app and service for the distribution of digital content. RBMedia and OverDrive are both owned by KKR, with KKR's OverDrive purchase concluded in June 2020. The sale of RBMedia's library division to OverDrive represents a merger of KKR's related assets. On June 9, 2021, it was announced that OverDrive had reached a deal to acquire Kanopy, a leading on-demand streaming video platform for public and academic libraries. The acquisition was completed on July 15, 2021. In March of 2023, the company announced plans to sunset its flagship OverDrive app on May 1, 2023. OverDrive's new business model is to transition users to the newer Libby reading app, which allows public, corporate and academic library systems to provide digital content to members of their respective library's network. The content consists of digital books, audiobooks, magazines and an extras section displaying all the databases and streaming media services that public, corporate and academic libraries have to offer to their users.

Reception

Connection to local library

The 2023

report on the Digital Public Library Ecosystem found that younger users of the apps largely did not realize that local libraries paid for the services they received through apps like OverDrive's Libby.^:13

Data privacy

The 2023 American Library Association report on the Digital Public Library Ecosystem could not determine what user data Amazon could use and access from books read on the Kindle app through the partnership with Libby.^:11-12

State funding

In March of 2025, the

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Secretary of State Denny Hoskins suspended state funding to OverDrive for use in K-12 school libraries pending investigation of "allegations regarding inappropriate materials accessible to minors." The news release announcing the suspension did not provide any details on the nature or source of the allegations. In response to the funding suspension, the Missouri Library Association stated that school librarians have direct control over what materials students can access on OverDrive's platforms, and that librarians are able to categorize access based on students' age to ensure that younger students cannot access materials that are suited for older students.https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/missouri-secretary-of-state-pauses-funding-for-overdrive-used-at-k-12-libraries

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Overdrive, Inc. Audiobook companies and organizations Software companies based in Ohio Companies based in Cleveland American companies established in 1986 Commercial digital libraries 1986 establishments in Ohio Library resources Book selling websites Ebook suppliers Ebook sources American digital libraries Mass media companies of the United States Software companies of the United States Software companies established in 1986 Retail companies established in 1986 2015 mergers and acquisitions 2020 mergers and acquisitions Kohlberg Kravis Roberts companies