One of the leading independent book publishers in North America, and the largest woman-owned trade book publisher in North America, Sourcebooks, has signed an agreement with Bookshare to provide an extensive selection of titles across its imprints. This partnership means that our Bookshare members will receive access to an eclectic and exciting breadth of Sourcebooks titles.
When asked about this partnership, Betsy Beaumon, the Vice President and General Manager of the Literacy Program at Benetech had this to say: “Our agreement with Sourcebooks is especially important because, in addition to their wide-ranging list of general interest titles, they publish several of the leading college and test study guides.”
Why is it important that they publish college and test study guides? Because, historically, the number of high school students with print disabilities who transition into postsecondary education and employment has been low, in fact some studies have found that number to be as low as 60%. With access to study guides, test preparation materials, and stories depicting the excitement of college life, including: Gruber’s SAT, The Fiske Guide to Colleges, and the U.S. News & World Report Ultimate College Guide, as well as books about college life, such as The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run into in College, by Harlan Cohen, we hope that our student members will take advantage of these resources and books, and that we can have a small role in helping to increase the number of students transitioning to postsecondary education.
Dominique Raccah, the Publisher of Sourcebooks, shared the following with us: “We are committed to reaching all readers with books that will illuminate, inspire and enlighten their lives. We publish several series for reluctant readers, send our catalog to 20,000 high school guidance counselors in the U.S. twice a year and through our digital publishing program we offer e-books, enhanced ebooks and iPhone apps. Our agreement with Bookshare strengthens our commitment to making books easily accessible to all readers around the world.”
Thank you, Dominique, for sharing your extensive collection with our Bookshare members. Books from Sourcebooks are already flowing into the Bookshare collection, and are available to our members today.
.
The post did not make clear if these books are available to international members, or if we are once again left out in the cold. As bookshare charges International members just as much, and often more as we don’t get free student access, than American members, you folks really do need to do a better job in this area. Bookshare.ca, for example, still links to services Canadians cannot use. We still have no word if these areas will be opened to us, or removed, or what. We still cannot submit or proofread books. Better communication with international members would be a good start. But actually fixing the problems would be an even better one.
Yes, Sourcebooks did grant world rights to their titles. When the books become available, they will be available to Canadian Members. In fact, most publishers who sign agreements with us are giving us world rights. At last count, a couple months ago, we had almost 25K books available for Canadian Members. Just as an FYI, there can be a lag time between the agreement and the flow of books from the publisher to Bookshare while the publisher develops new internal processes.
How many books will be added? Are these just recent books or does the agreement cover a number of back titles? If the latter, how far back in years do the titles go? Are we talking 22 books or 2200? The blog post offers little info on impact.are How far back
Kelly, when Publishers sign agreements with Bookshare they do not specify a total number of books. In the case of this agreement, new, recent, and back titles will be added to the collection. We’re talking thousands of books. Do keep in mind that there can be a lag time between the time the agreement is signed and when the books begin showing up in the collection. If you have specific books you are looking for, please let us know, we can request them directly from the publisher. If they are NIMAC textbooks please view the instructions for requesting a NIMAC book here: http://www.bookshare.org/assets/docs/Quick_Guide_to_Requesting_NIMAC_textbooks_with_Bookshare.doc. For non-NIMAC textbooks or required reading please send your request to: http://www.bookshare.org/contactUs?sendInfoOn=Requesting%20a%20School%20Book If the book you are looking for is not a textbook or required reading please check the Wish List and if the book you are looking for is not already on the list please add it. You can view the Wish List here: Visit the Wish List: https://wiki.benetech.org/display/BSO/Bookshare+Wish+List