BC Books Online

This project is the first ever collaboration between publishers and libraries with the objective of delivering digital content to an entire province. The project will undoubtedly serve as a model for similar initiatives in other jurisdictions.

Inspired by the vision put forward by the Premier in 2005 in the strategic plan for provincial libraries (Libraries without Walls, The World Within Your Reach: A Vision for Public Libraries in British Columbia, the Association of Book Publishers of BC has developed this digital books collection.

The goal of the project is to leverage the demand from libraries for digital books to provide BC publishers with the incentive to go digital. The venture will serve as a demonstration project for both publishers and libraries.

In fall 2009 a demo or beta collection has been made available to a small group of library systems in the province. Once the results of this initiative have been evaluated by participants, the scope of the project will be broadened to offer the collection more widely.

Articles about the BC Books Online project and its value to the residents of British Columbia:

• Your Book's Never out at This Library: BC Books Online takes the idea of a digital public library to a whole new level. The Tyee, 2010
  

• B.C. Libraries Launch Ambitious New Digital Collection. Quill & Quire, 2010.
  

• British Columbia Public, School Libraries Offer First E-Book Collection. School Library Journal, 2010.