Penguin has stopped making its eBooks available for library lending. The publisher explained in a statement to Library Journal, citing “new concerns about the security of our digital editions.”
OverDrive, the company’s digital distribution partner, posted about this change in service on its blog: “Last week Penguin sent notice to OverDrive that it is reviewing terms for library lending of their eBooks. In the interim, OverDrive was instructed to suspend availability of new Penguin eBook titles from our library catalog and disable ‘Get for Kindle’ functionality for all Penguin eBooks. We apologize for this abrupt change in terms from this supplier. We are actively working with Penguin on this issue and are hopeful Penguin will agree to restore access to their new titles and Kindle availability as soon as possible.”
Other publishing houses have pulled their eBooks from library lending in the past. HarperCollins limited its eBook library lending to 26 copies of each digital edition. The Digital Shift has more: “Macmillan and Simon & Schuster do not license ebooks to public libraries. Hachette Book Group withdrew its frontlist ebook titles from library circulation in July 2010, although it has been reconsidering that decision recently.”