Libraries received surprising news on March 16 at a time when North American libraries were shutting down to help staunch the spread of COVID-19.  Macmillan announced they were lifting their embargo on new eBook releases, and the one copy limit for 8 weeks introduced on November 1, 2019.

Macmillan carries such popular authors as Louise Penny, J.D. Robb, Jeffrey Archer and a large cohort of Sci-Fi writers.  They just published the controversial American Dirt, and other titles in the news.  By making the embargo decision in 2019 they elicited strong condemnation from libraries and their supporters, with some making the choice to boycott Macmillan eBooks.  OPL joined the advocacy campaign to protest this business decision through the eBooks for All Campaign, encouraging OPL customers to sign the petition and log their objections.  We kept a banner on our Overdrive page "One Copy for All" with a shelf of Macmillan titles, explaining the reason we only had one copy to offer.

Reason has perhaps prevailed, or compassion for library customers wanting to access eBooks during a time when physical library books are not available for checking out. Or it could just be that Macmillan now understands how important libraries are for the reading/publishing ecosystem.  Whatever it may be, the availability of enough copies to supply demand is timely and welcome.

Read for yourself the newly available copies, through our Express eBook collection, or Overdrive's Libby.  Here's a taste of what could "e-meet" your reading interests: