Following their usual PR practice, the bit about how many “iPod®-, Mac®-, and iPhone™-compatible MP3 audiobooks” they offer and have been downloaded is always given prominence, however, it should be noted that NONE of the titles in their list of most downloaded audiobooks is made available in said format.

Apart from some very rare exceptions, the vast majority of “iPod®-, Mac®-, and iPhone™-compatible MP3 audiobooks” made available through OverDrive through their library program are public-domain types of titles (Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, etc.) as well as some titles by small publishers.

With this program, publishers have found a service that allows them to limit access to materials by public libraries- why allow a library to give it away when we can sell it for full price! If a publisher feels that a title has individual sales potential, they will not allow OverDrive to make the title available in an open format to public libraries. For example, you can BUY some of the “most downloaded” titles in DRM-free format, through OverDrive’s retail partnership with Borders, but the same titles are only available in DRM laden WMA formats to public libraries using the OverDrive service.

I find it appalling that public libraries – supposed bastions of open access – spend public money buying into a program that is so restrictive as well as blatantly intent on maximizing sales for publishers at the expense of access.