The Unhinged Librarian

Overdue Conversations

Ownership, contracts, pricing, and company decisions reconstructed from public records.

Choose the question on your desk

  1. Run a public libraryPricing, ownership, and questions to take to a vendor.
  2. Work in schoolsPrivacy, vendor claims, and what a district can document.
  3. Sit on a boardAgendas, notice rules, and records of delegated authority.

Find the file

Filter only the conversations below. For governance and other sections, use the full archive.

Try , , or .

OC-011 Overdue Conversation 2026.07 Cited · 3 sources

Libby Isn't Your Library. It's a Private Equity Asset.

Libby is a vendor product, not a public library. A short guide to who owns it, why the ownership record matters, and what to ask before renewal.

EbooksOwnershipVendors

Jul 8, 2026·5 min read

OC-010 Overdue Conversation 2026.07

The Friction Tax

At this year's Library Insights Summit, a librarian named the reason small-press books rarely make it onto library shelves. The diagnosis was sharp. The advice stopped one step short of it.

Library systems

Jul 7, 2026·6 min read

OC-013 Overdue Conversation 2026.06

Baker & Taylor Sold Its Library Ebook Platform for $750,000. The New Owner Brought In the Team That Ran It.

Built mostly out of Baker & Taylor's own bankruptcy filings, signed under oath and filed with the court. What the documents say, what they do not say, and the questions libraries may want to ask next. Disclosure: I worked at Baker & Taylor, on the software side, years before these events.

EbooksOwnershipVendors

Part of the Libby, ownership & ebook terms

Jun 9, 2026·25 min read