Heights Press Launches With Unique Content material for Faculties and Libraries

A brand new e book imprint is publishing books completely for libraries and public colleges.

On Oct. 21, digital library service OverDrive launched the brand new publishing imprint Heights Press, together with its inaugural titles, the Hickory Hole sequence. The six-book sequence caters to middle-grade readers, and is now accessible completely for colleges and public libraries worldwide by the e-book and audiobook platforms, Libby and Sora, and the tutorial video platform Kanopy Children.

“We have been serving libraries, supporting literacy packages and rising lifelong readers for 20 years, and this felt like a pure evolution for us to get into the unique content material area,” OverDrive CMO Jen Leitman tells PEOPLE.

Heights Press, Leitman says, was created as a strategy to promote literacy to younger readers.

“We’re in a singular place too, as a result of we will supply unique digital content material throughout a number of platforms within the type of e-books and audiobooks — Libby and Sora — after which additionally streaming on our Kanopy platform,” Leitman explains. “We are able to play an element in our service to libraries by sharing these terrific tales in that means.”

Heights Press was impressed by the city of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, the place OverDrive CEO and founder Steve Potash grew up, and the place the corporate relies. In a press release shared with PEOPLE, Potash stated that he was a “proud graduate” of Cleveland Heights Excessive Faculty, and that Heights Press hopes to make the most of OverDrive’s expertise to encourage readership for all college students.

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“What makes us totally different is that we solely serve library channels, so that you’re solely going to seek out this content material at libraries. It is nice to have one thing unique,” Leitmans says. “It is another excuse to get a card and assist your library.”

The imprint’s debut sequence, Hickory Hole, follows the younger residents of a fictional city of the identical title. Every e book within the sequence will initially be accessible in an e-book format, and in 5 languages: English, Chinese language, Vietnamese, German and Korean.

The primary title shall be accessible without cost for colleges and libraries that already use OverDrive, and extra books shall be in the stores in OverDrive Market. Six Hickory Hole video shorts will even be accessible to stream on Kanopy Children.

“Every particular person e book has a really particular attention-grabbing character, and it is a very numerous set of characters,” Leitman says of the sequence. “Every writer may be very linked to that character by way of who they’re, their perspective, how they grew up.”

Leitman additionally shares that there are plans to develop sources for various age ranges, together with adults.

“It has been tremendous thrilling to be part of the entire evolution,” Leitman says. “It’s a huge strategic change for us.”

The most important hope Leitman has for the imprint, nonetheless, is that all of it comes again to fostering a love of studying.

“I believe they’re good tales that entertain and encourage extra youngsters to like studying. And for us, serving libraries with unique content material you possibly can solely discover there may be terrific. It is an amazing subsequent step,” Leitman says.

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“It’s totally aggressive within the content material area. It is in every single place and libraries are an amazing useful resource for therefore many causes,” Leitman provides. “They’re accessible to everybody … We wish to develop lifelong readers. That is it. That may be a huge primary objective.”

For extra details about Heights Press, go to www.heights-press.com.