About
Both sides of the desk
Almost twenty years in library software, from building the systems to building the alternatives.
I'm Sam Chada. I came up on the vendor side and stayed long enough to quit pretending it was neutral. I was OverDrive employee #70, back when we were still teaching librarians how to reset Windows DRM so patrons could sideload audiobooks. Weekdays I worked for the vendor. Saturdays I did my MLIS practicum at the public library down the road. Same seven days, both sides of the same vendor call, and they were not selling the same product.
That split is the whole story. Almost twenty years later I've sat on most sides of it: vendor support and project management, the public library director's chair, customer success for the companies that send libraries the invoice. I have an MLIS and an MBA, the second one out of pocket and on purpose, because the people selling to libraries are fluent in money and counting on you not being. Now I build the alternatives instead of selling the problem.
Where I've been
The short version, both sides of the desk:
- OverDrive (2008–2011). Employee #70, support then project management, helping libraries stand up their first ebook collections. In the room when the pricing models shifted.
- Sandusky Library (2011–2015). Communications & Technologies Director. Built lending programs, secured $250,000 in grants, launched Wi-Fi and Roku lending. (Library Journal Mover & Shaker, 2012; Ohio Library Council Innovation Award, 2015.)
- Wayne County Public Library (2015–2017). Assistant Director. System-level vendor management and technology strategy.
- collectionHQ / Baker & Taylor (2017–2021). Customer Success Manager. Started on collectionHQ, then the full digital portfolio through Follett's restructuring.
- Dutchie (2021–2022). Senior Customer Success. Cannabis compliance, helping people navigate systems instead of lock-in.
- Trellis Law (2022–2024). Director of Customer Success. Renewals for law libraries and Am Law 100 firms, the same vendor playbook I'd watched in library tech, different industry.
Four things I keep coming back to, and the catalog is organized around them.
Explainers
The tech you got handed without a manual. Git, APIs, DRM, the cloud, what an LLM actually is. Plain-language walk-throughs you can bring into a board meeting, no upsell, no jargon-as-a-flex. Each one ends with three questions worth asking your vendor.
Overdue Conversations
The stories behind the software you use every day: who owns these companies, where the money goes, what the contracts really say. I show my receipts, a filing, a Wayback capture, a screenshot, so you can check my work. If I can't source it, I don't run it.
Building
The fun part. I build the open alternatives instead of just writing about them: l/30, a full library system a library can actually own, and MetisLib, an ebook co-op for indie authors and libraries. This is where I show the work in public, the good calls and the trade-offs both.
Field Notes
Shorter notes from the desk. A feature getting renamed for the third time, a VPAT that quietly walks back its own claims, small stuff worth writing down before it slips away.
How this site treats you
No newsletter. No trackers. No popup asking for your email before you've read a sentence. The open-source work is AGPL where it applies. Want to talk? The contact link in the footer goes to a real inbox, not a form. I answer, though it may take a day or two.
Behind the scenes
Receipts from both sides of the desk, pulled from my camera roll. Click any photo to enlarge it.
