Next week, May 28-31, BookExpo America lands at the Javits Convention Center on Manhattan’s West Side. The nation’s largest trade show for the book business, BEA is a powerful magnet not only for authors and publishers, but also for librarians who love books – it’s practically a job requirement. The profusion of titles on display at BEA means plenty of work and plenty of excitement for them.
But in 2014, more is on show than books. Technology is the star, as often as not. The library market is an important “beat” for Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer, who will have his eye out for a special type of Hoopla.
“It’s from a company called Midwest Tape, and Hoopla is their library platform for music and video lending. Word is they are about to extend into e-book lending.,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. “Contrary to the complaints we hear about the hassle of borrowing a library e-book, the Hoopla app gets compared to NetFlix, with one librarians telling me the interface is better than Netflix.”
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Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.