LibraryPass, Inc. and bibliotheca have announced a partnership that brings unlimited, simultaneous access to Comics Plus’ entire catalogue of more than 20,000 digital comics, graphic novels, and manga to bibliotheca library customers. The two-pronged deal includes a distribution agreement that makes Comics Plus immediately available to bibliotheca customers through LibraryPass’ standalone app, as well as a development agreement that will make bibliotheca’s cloudLibrary the first and only digital platform to fully integrate the Comics Plus collection, providing a seamless experience for cloudLibrary users.
Comics Plus’ vast catalogue offers age-appropriate digital comics to both adult and juvenile readers in curated collections. Primarily English offerings include popular titles such as Avatar: The Last Airbender & The Legend of Korra, Big Nate, Bone, Disney Princesses, Geronimo Stilton, Stranger Things, Locke & Key, American Gods, and timely, award-winning nonfiction like March and They Called Us Enemy.
“Comics and graphic novels are proven to increase literacy, particularly among reluctant readers,” says Tom Mercer, bibliotheca Senior Vice President of Digital Products. “We are thrilled to be able to offer an affordable way for libraries to offer an outstanding digital comic collection to their users, particularly now, when so many students are learning from home and looking for high-interest resources.”
“We’re excited to work with the bibliotheca team to make Comics Plus available to public libraries,” says Ian Singer, LibraryPass CEO. “cloudLibrary integration combined with our simultaneous use, unlimited access model will provide public libraries with exciting new digital content for patrons that integrates well with a variety of programming and engagement efforts, like community reads.”
Comics Plus provides simultaneous, unlimited access to every title for every user. San Diego Public Library is taking advantage of the new partnership for this year’s One Book One San Diego program in which all residents are encouraged to read the same book.
“We selected George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy for One Book One San Diego. Procuring enough digital copies for a popular title is often prohibitively expensive, so we were thrilled to find the title offered on Comics Plus,” says Robyn Gage-Norquist, Supervising Librarian at San Diego Public Library. “Our digital collection budget is limited, but bibliotheca’s new partnership with LibraryPass allowed us to not only offer every San Diego Public Library user access to the One Book One San Diego selection but also to tens of thousands of other popular graphic novels and comics while remaining within budget.”
Comics Plus is now available to bibliotheca customers through the standalone LibraryPass app (Web | iOS | Android). Full integration with cloudLibrary is underway and expected within the next year. Once complete, users will have the option to access Comics Plus content from within cloudLibrary or through the separate LibraryPass app experience.
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