Overdrive, the largest provider of audiobooks and e-books to public libraries is getting into the manga business. The company has just signed a deal with MediaDo and Kodansha Advanced Media to distribute popular Kodansha Manga e-Books to public and academic libraries in the U.S. and Canada.
Starting today there are over 400 individual titles from over 50 different series that librarians to purchase for their branches. One of the most notable franchises to be included in the Overdrive portfolio is Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama , which has more than 52 million copies in print and has spawned television, film and video game versions. Another great series is “Fairy Tail” by Hiro Mashima which has 25 million copies in print and has also been adapted for film and television.
“Manga and libraries have always been a great fit, because of the crossover with younger readers, and because of the amount of manga out there, digital distribution through libraries presents great opportunities to build readership, ” said Alvin Lu, General Manager of Kodansha Advanced Media. “Very exciting to finally make our graphic-novel digital editions available to young readers through libraries in North America, with smart, savvy partners like MediaDo and OverDrive.”
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.
