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Exhibits·21 records

The receipts, attached.

The primary sources behind the filings: vendor announcements, court records, and what patrons run into in the wild. Dated where a date can be established, and linked to where they came from. Every document stored here is listed in the checksum file, so you can confirm the copy you downloaded is the copy I published.

OverDrive

The B2B distributor behind Libby and Sora, in its own words.

Related investigationRead the OverDrive Amplify record →

OverDrive's Amplify announcement describing patron reading data as aggregated, anonymized, and actionable — OD-01
OverDrive’s Amplify announcement: patron reading data, “aggregated, anonymized, and for the first time, genuinely actionable.”
Publishers Weekly, sponsored spotlight, May 18, 2026 · the original article · the filing →

Full Publishers Weekly article: Spotlight on OverDrive, announcing the Amplify data product — OD-02
The full Publishers Weekly “Spotlight on OverDrive” piece announcing Amplify.
Publishers Weekly, May 18, 2026, captured Jun 1, 2026 · the original article · the Amplify filing →

Two PE firms

KKR and Francisco Partners, named on the corporate paperwork rather than in press coverage.

Related investigationRead the Two PE Firms record →

First page of Aragorn Holding Parent Corp's SEC Form D filing, August 2021, listing One OverDrive Way, Cleveland, Ohio as its address and Steven Potash as Chief Executive Officer and President — PE-01
Aragorn Holding Parent Corp’s SEC filing, August 10, 2021: the issuer’s address is OverDrive’s own Cleveland headquarters, and Steven Potash is listed as Chief Executive Officer and President. Sari Feldman is named as a director. So are Richard Sarnoff and Ted Oberwager, both listed at KKR’s corporate address, 30 Hudson Yards, New York.
SEC EDGAR, Form D · the filing (PDF) · the Two PE Firms record → In this archive since Jul 30, 2026 · 356 KB PDF · sha256 2e0b8d0ef83e441e

First page of the joint OverDrive and Follett Content press release, December 9, 2025, announcing a sales collaboration between Sora and Follett Content — PE-02
OverDrive and Follett Content’s own release, December 9, 2025: the companies call it a “sales collaboration” that delivers digital content to students through Sora, OverDrive’s school app. Their words, so you can weigh them against the deal.
OverDrive and Follett Content, Dec. 9, 2025 · the release (PDF) · the Two PE Firms record → In this archive since Jul 30, 2026 · 325 KB PDF · sha256 e38a573785b5f4a8

Publishers Weekly article by Andrew Albanese, July 1, 2019, reporting Simon and Schuster's new library e-book terms effective August 1, 2019 — PE-03
Publishers Weekly, July 1, 2019: Simon & Schuster confirms new library ebook terms effective August 1, 2019. Two-year licenses, one copy one user, $38.99 to $52.99 for most new releases. This predates KKR’s ownership of both OverDrive and S&S.
Publishers Weekly, Jul. 1, 2019 · the article (PDF) · the Two PE Firms record → In this archive since Jul 30, 2026 · 227 KB PDF · sha256 8413430e1c450fe3 · thumbnail shows page 2; page 1 of the capture rendered blank

First page of Follett's own press release, September 1, 2021, announcing the sale of Follett School Solutions to Francisco Partners — PE-04
Follett’s own release, September 1, 2021: the sale of Follett School Solutions, including Destiny, its library management system, to Francisco Partners. The release puts Destiny in more than 75,000 K-12 schools.
Follett Corporation, Sep. 1, 2021 · the release (PDF) · the Two PE Firms record → In this archive since Jul 30, 2026 · 176 KB PDF · sha256 8d2eebbce5123768

Title slide of OverDrive's training deck, Getting Started with Lending Models, Part One: Lending models in OverDrive Marketplace — PE-05
OverDrive’s own training deck, “Getting Started with Lending Models”: Metered Access titles expire after a determined period, in four types, including by time and by number of checkouts. This is the company’s own description of the licenses that expire on a timer or a checkout cap.
OverDrive, Inc., staff training deck · the deck (PDF) · the Two PE Firms record → In this archive since Jul 30, 2026 · 483 KB PDF · sha256 715ac586245e658e

Baker & Taylor

The library wholesaler that became “A Follett Company,” the paper trail, and the view from inside.

Baker and Taylor cat mascots on a sticker reading 'Baker & Taylor, A Follett Company' — BT-01
Baker & Taylor’s mascots, Baker and Taylor, now badged “A Follett Company.”
Author photo, May 2019

Panorama of the Las Vegas Strip seen from a high floor of the Cosmopolitan hotel — BT-02
Follett and Baker & Taylor combined their sales meetings here. We were being blended into Follett. The beginning of the end. The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas.
Author photo

A Baker & Taylor 'Exceptions Flag' cataloging form and a processing slip for a library book, with a handwritten note about a missing 'new' sticker — BT-03
Baker & Taylor’s shelf-ready service, up close: an “Exceptions Flag” cataloging form and the processing slip for a single library-bound book.
Author photo, undated

First page of Senator Ron Wyden's November 2021 letter to Baker and Taylor — BT-04
Sen. Ron Wyden’s letter to Baker & Taylor, November 18, 2021.
Source: full letter (PDF) → In this archive since Jun 14, 2026 · 294 KB PDF · sha256 fe807926986c63de

First page of Baker & Taylor's court response to OCLC's motion for a temporary restraining order — BT-05
Baker & Taylor’s response to OCLC’s motion for a restraining order: OCLC, Inc. v. Baker & Taylor, S.D. Ohio, Sept. 2025.
Source: court filing (PDF) → In this archive since Jun 14, 2026 · 1.4 MB PDF · sha256 8923cbfc1c9b3db5

First page of LibraryOne Digital Inc.'s Articles of Incorporation, North Carolina Secretary of State, SOSID 3186012, date filed 12/8/2025 — BT-06
LibraryOne Digital Inc.’s Articles of Incorporation, filed with the North Carolina Secretary of State at 8:00 AM on December 8, 2025, one week before the first Baker & Taylor purchase agreement closed. The buyer, on paper: incorporator Manjunath Ratakonda, with Hari Prasad Katukota as president.
NC Secretary of State, SOSID 3186012 · the filing (PDF) In this archive since Jul 7, 2026 · 91 KB PDF · sha256 1ccc4d637f7193e8

A redacted r/Libraries comment from a laid-off Baker & Taylor employee of nearly 12 years, describing layoffs with no communication and grieving the company's decline — BT-07
A laid-off Baker & Taylor employee of nearly 12 years, on the collapse.
r/Libraries, on or around October 2025 (exact date not recovered), username redacted

Redacted r/Libraries comments from a Baker & Taylor India employee describing toxicity and being told to work on releases that would never ship — BT-08
A Baker & Taylor India employee, the same week: told to work on releases that would never ship.
r/Libraries, usernames redacted

Redacted r/Libraries comments from librarians asking what happens to their Axis 360 titles during the Baker & Taylor collapse — BT-09
Librarians mid-collapse, asking what happens to their Axis 360 titles.
r/Libraries, on or around October 2025 (exact date not recovered), usernames redacted

The Baker & Taylor bankruptcy

What the company told a federal judge it owes libraries, in its own CEO’s sworn words.

First page of the Declaration of Amandeep Kochar in support of Baker and Taylor's Chapter 11 petition and first day motions, filed 03/16/26 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, case 26-12863-CMG — BK-01
Baker & Taylor CEO Amandeep S. Kochar, “being duly sworn,” March 16, 2026. Paragraph 48 puts the company’s general unsecured obligations at approximately $120 million, and breaks that figure into three parts: about $68 million owed to publishers and suppliers, about $33 million owed to “library customers who participated in a Baker & Taylor leasing program by which they prepaid for books and media to be delivered by the company, but which Baker & Taylor was unable to deliver,” and about $18 million in other obligations. The $33 million is a component of the $120 million, not an amount on top of it.
In re Baker & Taylor, LLC, No. 26-12863-CMG (Bankr. D.N.J.), Doc. 9 · the declaration (PDF) In this archive since Jul 30, 2026 · 710 KB PDF · sha256 dd9b1ef243a43da3 · obtained from the RECAP Archive

Follett

The Francisco Partners-owned company behind the school library catalog, and a claim made about it that nobody has confirmed.

A ransomware.live tracker page for Follett Software LLC, follettsoftware.com, showing group Shinyhunters, discovered 2026-04-30 22:27 UTC, estimated attack date 2026-04-30, country United States, and a description claiming over 4 million Salesforce records containing PII were compromised with a final warning to respond by 4 May 2026 — FL-01
The ransomware.live tracker entry for Follett Software LLC, listed by the group ShinyHunters, discovered April 30, 2026. It claims “Over 4M Salesforce records containing PII and other internal corporate data have been compromised,” with a May 4 deadline and “FINAL WARNING.” What this establishes is that the listing was posted and what it says, not that a breach happened. No confirmation exists from Follett, from Salesforce, from any attorney general, or from tier-one security reporting, and California’s breach database carries no Follett entry.
ransomware.live listing · screenshot captured Jun 2, 2026

Digital rights management

How libraries have explained the disappearing ebook to their own patrons.

Related explainerRead what DRM actually is →

First page of a Halifax Public Libraries patron handout titled eBooks and Audiobooks, explaining what an ebook is and how to download one from the library's OverDrive collection — DR-01
Halifax Public Libraries’ patron handout for OverDrive ebooks, 2010, explaining DRM in the library’s own words: borrowed titles “expire automatically when your loan period ends… They just stop working on your computer/device.” It is written as a benefit, since you will never owe a fine. A library was walking patrons through Adobe Digital Editions sixteen years before this explainer had to.
Halifax Public Libraries, 2010 · the handout (PDF) · the DRM explainer → In this archive since Jul 30, 2026 · 994 KB PDF · sha256 93fa44ec12dbaf18

Library spending records

What libraries actually pay the vendors, straight from the public board packets.

Related investigationFollow the dollar through library ebook pricing →

Davis County Commissioners agenda item approving a $122,640.39 payment to OverDrive via the Utah State Library Beehive Consortium for 2026 — LS-01
Davis County (UT) library board, Nov. 2025: approving a $122,640.39 payment to OverDrive for 2026, via the Utah State Library Beehive Consortium. The agreement notes the library’s 2024 OverDrive circulation was 1,127,583.
Davis County Library Board packet, Nov. 13, 2025 · the Nov. 13, 2025 notice on Utah’s Public Notice Website · the agreement excerpt (PDF) → In this archive since Jul 7, 2026 · 523 KB PDF · sha256 76181105fa5bdbd8

Federal library data

How the US government counts what libraries spend and collect, in its own definitions.

Related investigationRead the digital lending pricing record →

The IMLS Public Libraries Survey FY2023 data dictionary, data element #354, Electronic Materials Expenditures (ELMATEXP). The definition reads: Report all operating expenditures for electronic (digital) materials. Types of electronic materials include e-books, audio, and video downloadables, e-serials (including journals), government documents, databases (including locally mounted, full text or not), electronic files, reference tools, scores, maps, or pictures in electronic or digital format, including materials digitized by the library. It adds that expenditures for database licenses are included, based on the ISO 2789 definition. — FD-01
IMLS counts ebooks, e-audio, and database subscriptions in one “electronic materials” line — about four cents of every operating dollar.
IMLS PLS FY2023, Data Element Definitions #354 · documentation (PDF) · archived copy · the pricing record →