Baker and Taylor has just expanded into New Zealand, giving public libraries the ability to loan out eBooks and audiobooks. The first libraries to offer digital content will be in Wellington City.
In order to expand into NZ, B&T needed to leverage their Australian subsidiary James Bennett. This is similar to Overdrive using Softlink as a partner in Australia, except they don’t actually own the company.
The agreement between Baker & Taylor/James Bennett and Wellington City Council offers all New Zealand public libraries an opportunity to sign onto a Participating Agency Agreement (PAA) and receive the terms and services outlined in the contract. Participating public libraries will have access to a wide range of areas in which Baker & Taylor/James Bennett have developed industry-leading expertise and technology, including collection development, ordering and procurement services and customized library solutions/technical services.
Working in partnership with Baker & Taylor/James Bennett also ensures that New Zealand libraries can quickly and easily receive all major titles from New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom through James Bennett’s warehouse in Sydney, as well as U.S. titles through Baker & Taylor’s American operations.
Baker and Taylor is the last major library to have a presence in New Zealand. Overdrive launched there in 2011 and 3M Cloud Library entered the market in 2013.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.