The Cleveland digital book company serves 91,000 libraries and schools in 113 countries

 

OverDrive was founded with a simple, yet profound goal: A World Enlightened by Reading

The Cleveland-based company began in 1986, when founder and CEO Steve Potash created OverDrive as a way to accelerate and simplify access to information.  As an attorney, Steve first sought to digitize law books. 

As the possibilities of the internet and digital books evolved through the 1990s, he refocused the mission. In 2000, OverDrive launched a secure online repository for a large catalog of digital content, including ebooks from the world’s largest trade publishers.  In 2002, Cleveland Public Library approached OverDrive about building one of the first ebook lending platforms for libraries, and OverDrive launched the service in 2003 with ebooks and added audiobooks in 2004.  This quickly grew to be the world’s largest digital service for libraries (now through the Libby library reading app), and soon, schools (through the Sora student reading app), colleges and corporate and government organizations joined the OverDrive network to provide access to a custom collection of popular and educational ebooks, audiobooks, magazines and streaming video.  OverDrive now serves 91,000 libraries and schools in 113 countries with a catalog of millions of digital titles. What's next? Steve Potash recently took the time to sit down and share his company’s mission, history – and future – with GCP:

 

What was your goal when founding OverDrive?

From the beginning, OverDrive’s goal was to “unlock” the content from the world’s print books, and to provide easy access to information.  We wanted to develop efficient ways to get text on the printed page to the screen, and provide access anytime, anywhere. Our corporate vision is “a world enlightened by reading” and we support all forms of reading.

In 2017, OverDrive we took this commitment a step further and became a Certified B Corporation, a designation that a business meets high standards of verified performance, accountability and transparency on financial, social and environmental factors.

What was the void or need you were seeking to fill?

As the popularity and utility of the Internet grew, libraries as well as schools came to us to create a reliable system that would help them enhance their services in the digital age by offering access to more of their services.  And as we started to engage with public libraries and understand their important role in the communities they serve, it was an opportunity to help extend the libraries’ value as community servant in terms of making more content available to more people, anytime, anywhere andextending their hours of service to 24/7.

Often, people blame technology for poor literacy in kids and teens.  You have turned the paradigm on its head. Can you say more about how you harness technology for literacy?

This is still an ongoing journey.  It’s about providing access to reading and supporting the mission of our nation’s public libraries and schools.   As a result of two decades of experience with leading libraries and schools, we have constantly sought to improve every aspect of how we support reading and literacy. It begins with the books and authors that readers want.  We are honored to have developed longstanding trusted relationships with the publishers and authors, and as a result, OverDrive’s Marketplace catalog has grown to offer readers of all ages and interests the largest selection of digital books (eBooks, audiobooks, magazines and more) that can be accessed on almost any device. 

The technology enables a variety of options for how a reader wants to learn or read.  Audiobooks, read-alongs, instant access to dictionaries and online resources, are now available to support readers of all ages, for entertainment, information or educational purposes.  We’ve invested in our Libby and Sora reading apps to improve discovery and accessibility features.  Only with technology, can you read a book and instantly be able to define, sound out, change the font size or background color to significantly enhance the readers’ ability to benefit from the words. With access to a large catalog and these technology features, our library and school partners serve record numbers of readers every month.  In the past year, schools and libraries delivered over 550 million digital books from OverDrive.

What technology makes OverDrive unique?

Only OverDrive offers to libraries and schools access to the largest catalog of digital books as well as a proven platform and apps to serve their communities of readers.  OverDrive Marketplace is the librarian- and educator-facing platform launched in 2003 that combines the world’s largest digital content catalog with tools to help librarians manage their collections and enhance their library’s or school’s visibility within the Libby or Sora apps.  Due to their functionality and ease of use, the apps are the highest rated in their class and have also won numerous awards: Sora was named one of Time magazine’s Best Inventions in 2019, and Libby was named one of Best Apps of the Decade by Popular Mechanics.

What beyond your technology makes OverDrive unique?

OverDrive enjoys a very inclusive and mission-oriented culture that support the work we do every day.  We are dedicated to “A World Enlightened by Reading.” To challenge ourselves to contribute to all the communities we serve, we became a Certified B Corp in 2017. 

We invest in our people and provide a unique, productive environment at our Blue Sky Campus in Garfield Heights.  We have more than 100 degreed librarians and educators on our staff to support the mission of our library and school partners.  We stand with libraries and schools through access, advocacy and always advancing technology.

Why are you based in Cleveland?

I was born and raised here, and am a proud Clevelander.   As an alumnus from the Cleveland State University College of Law and as an entrepreneur, I have benefitted from many of the great resources here in northeast Ohio and Ohio as a whole.  Not only is the state of Ohio is home to the world’s greatest public libraries, northeast Ohio provides an excellent business environment for building and growing tech businesses with easy access to all of the resources needed for success, including talent from area schools and for us, convenient access to the major publishing center in New York City.

What’s next for OverDrive?

We are committed to working with all of our publishing, library and school partners to continue to promote improved access to books and reading.  The opportunities to invest in solutions for the classroom using digital books motivate us every day to develop solutions that improve outcomes for literacy and all student success.  OverDrive will always invest in our people and in the technology to help our library and school partners better serve their mission.  Following the acquisition of Kanopy, the leading streaming video service for libraries and colleges, and TeachingBooks, the largest database of supplemental resources that bring books to life, we will work with our partners to find the best ways to streamline and simplify access for all.

Greater Cleveland Partnership’s All In vision for a Great Region on a Great Lake has five key priorities: Dynamic Business, Abundant Talent, Inclusive Opportunity, Appealing Community and Business Confidence. All of our work ties back to these values. This story relates to Dynamic Business and Business Confidence.