eBooks are becoming more accessible thanks to innovations made by public library systems nationwide. As part of its ongoing commitment to accessibility, OverDrive created LEAP (Library eBook Accessibility Program) and it is now live at Cleveland Public Library. LEAP is the result of a partnership between OverDrive and Bookshare.org, a nonprofit agency that provides individuals with print disabilities timely access to print materials in digital formats.Under the partnership between Bookshare and OverDrive, LEAP will provide accessible eBooks and extend the Bookshare service to library patrons with print disabilities at U.S. public libraries in the OverDrive network. OverDrive is fully funding this program and offering LEAP to qualifying patrons at no cost to the library and at no cost to the patrons.Libraries that enroll in the program will have a LEAP message and link added to their OverDrive-hosted website. A LEAP information page will explain how the program works. If a patron of the library has a print or visual disability, they will be eligible for a LEAP account at Bookshare.org. Bookshare has established this program solely for qualified patrons of U.S. public libraries that offer eBooks from OverDrive. LEAP account patrons will be able to download and read up to twenty accessible eBooks each month. The Bookshare national catalog of titles is growing each month with thousands of popular titles available, although it is not the identical collection of eBooks that OverDrive provides to the library.
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