Current Investigations · all filings
Every filing, sourced.
Investigations into who owns library technology and what it takes from your patrons. Each one links to the primary documents.
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001
The Hold Screen Tells You Nothing
You place a hold and see a friendly app. You don’t see the private-equity owner, the license that expires, or where the money goes. Start here: what the screen hides, and why that’s the point.
Vendor / Ownership Sourced -
002
What Your Library Actually Pays OverDrive
A Utah library’s own board record shows the bill and how it’s calculated: the more your patrons read on OverDrive, the more you owe OverDrive. $122,640.39, broken down.
Vendor / Spending Sourced -
003
Build the Panic, Then Sell the Cure
The AI tools sold to flag and remove books aren’t catching pornography; they’re a market, and some of the people defining the crisis sell districts the fix. A practitioner’s read on 404 Media’s reporting.
AI / Censorship Sourced -
004
Rated Books Isn’t Just a Parents’ Group. It’s a Family Software Business.
The Utah nonprofit that popularized the AI “this book is porn” report and the for-profit that sells the $5 scanner behind it file from the same household. Straight from the corporate record.
AI / Censorship Sourced -
005
OverDrive Built a Product Out of What Your Patrons Read
OverDrive’s own sponsored announcement says Amplify draws on hundreds of millions of monthly reading sessions across Libby and Sora. Here’s what that means on the library side of the desk.
Vendor / Privacy Sourced -
006
Libby Isn’t Your Library. It’s a Private Equity Asset.
The app patrons think is the library is owned by KKR, the same private-equity firm that owns Simon & Schuster. One owner, both sides of the deal.
Ownership Sourced -
007
The Library Was the Wedge
What Librar Labs is, who’s behind it, where the money came from, and what to ask before your district signs a contract with an AI startup pitching school libraries. Following Elissa Malespina’s reporting.
AI Sourced -
008
Baker & Taylor Sold Its Library Ebook Platform for $750,000. The Buyers Are the Team That Ran It.
Straight from the bankruptcy filings: B&T sold its digital library-lending platform for less than a warehouse building, to a new company run by the B&T team that built it.
Bankruptcy Court docket -
009
Follett Is on a Leak Site. It Hasn’t Said a Word.
A hacking group claims it took 4 million records from your school library vendor. It’s unverified, the confirmed sibling breach hit Canvas, and Follett still hasn’t said a word.
Security Unverified