Post #3769309

2026-07-12 09:57 UTC

Libby Isn't Your Library. It's a Private Equity Asset. https://unhingedlibrarian.com/research/who-owns-libby/ I went to do a search on DuckDuckGo, and it displayed a message that it had blocked 72 tracking attempts from Libby over the past hour. Which had me wondering: who owns this app??? OverDrive owns Libby. And OverDrive is owned by KKR, the same private-equity firm that owns Simon & Schuster. https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/could-kkrs-ownership-of-overdrive-raise-questions-about-simon-schuster-purchase #Libby #OverDrive #Libraries

Replies (5)

@wdenton@cosocial.ca 2026-07-12 15:03

@PapyrusBrigade@cosocial.ca It's a sad situation. People love their library ebooks, quite rightly, but how that works behind the scenes is all about rent-taking, restrictive licenses, and endless payments. The concentration of ownership, sometimes in private hands, in libraries and publishing is little known but astonishing. The profit margins are remarkable.

Open ##3785489
@pl@cosocial.ca 2026-07-12 11:16

@PapyrusBrigade@cosocial.ca private-equibby was shut down in focus group

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@wonkothesane@mstdn.social 2026-07-12 21:28

@PapyrusBrigade@cosocial.ca Yea, I loved library ebooks but stopped using them, and now just take out physical books. It’s a shame we can’t have anything good

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@ellie@ellieayla.net 2026-07-13 01:55

@PapyrusBrigade@cosocial.ca a website search engine (DDG) blocked Libby (an installed app) from attempting to do tracking? Wat. What does this mean?

Open ##3799938
@Quasit@beige.party 2026-07-13 02:29

@PapyrusBrigade@cosocial.ca And THAT'S why I use the Internet Archive. And Anna's Archive, if necessary.

Open ##3809098