From the press release:
Brain Hive, LLC, a private Minneapolis-based education company, announced today that it will launch an on-demand eBook lending service for U.S. K-12 schools this fall. The online service, eponymously named Brain Hive™, will offer unlimited access to an eBook collection valued at over $100,000 from respected children’s publishers. Students and educators may check out eBooks from Brain Hive on demand, while the school pays just $1.00 for each book read—a Brain Hive Buck™. Membership to the Brain Hive service is free to schools.
Currently being tested in 20 schools, Brain Hive is the first on-demand eBook service for schools and instantly expands a school’s eBook collection with more than 3,000 fiction and nonfiction titles, as well as printable activities, teaching resources, and Accelerated Reader quizzes from Renaissance Learning, making it the first eBook platform to link with the AR Enterprise platform. When released this fall, Brain Hive will include select titles from Random House Children’s Books, Charlesbridge Publishing, Andersen Press USA, The Creative Company, Gecko Press, Inside Pocket Publishing, The Kane Press, Lerner Publishing Group, Red Chair Press, and Stoke Books. The company expects to add eBooks from more children’s publishers prior to the fall release.
School librarians have long implored publishers to offer an easy, cost-effective way to bring eBooks to schools. Brain Hive was developed specifically to meet the unique needs and gaps that exist today in the school market for eBook availability, discoverability, ease-of-use, and affordability. Brain Hive brings notable children’s publishers together to offer librarians a better alternative for bringing eBooks into schools. Brain Hive changes the eBook purchasing paradigm, making it possible for schools to rejuvenate their library collections with thousands of titles and no investment risk.
Using a simple set-up wizard, a school librarian can activate free membership, select eBook collection(s), and set a spending limit and flexible payment preferences. With Brain Hive, schools don’t spend limited education dollars on eBooks that don’t circulate but rather pay only for the books being read by their students and teachers. Many eBooks are also available for purchase, and the entire collection is searchable from within a library’s catalog system using MARC records. And, Brain Hive provides schools with data to better understand reading, so future purchases are justified and the true value of digital reading in schools is measurable.
Brain Hive is tailored for kids by grade and reading interests, is easily searchable, and includes eReader features such as searching, bookmarking, and note taking, alongside social features such as ratings, favorites, and book clubs. Students manage a personal “Book Bag” and may read eBooks from school or home. An iPad® eReader App is also planned with the release.
“What I’m most excited about is Brain Hive’s pricing model for libraries. E-book purchasing can be wasteful if we don’t know what books students will actually utilize,” said Carolyn Foote, district librarian, Eanes ISD in Austin, Texas. “With Brain Hive, you pay for what you use and buy just what you need. It’s an out-of-the box and creative pricing model that sets a new standard.”
“Brain Hive is an exciting development for Accelerated Reader customers,” said Renaissance Learning CEO Glenn R. James. “AR has been in use for over 25 years and remains the essential tool for managing reading in classrooms and libraries whether reading takes place digitally or in print. At a time when the popularity of eBooks and digital reading has begun to explode, Brain Hive makes it easy for students to take AR Quizzes after completing their Brain Hive eBook.”
“Schools desperately need creative thinking from the private sector, inventive business models, and affordable access to the best educational content for our students,” said Adam Lerner, President and Publisher of Lerner Publishing Group. “As a 52-year publisher for the school library market, we are thrilled to offer our eBooks on Brain Hive.”
Advance membership registration is now open, and Brain Hive will be widely available to school libraries this fall. New members receive 10 Brain Hive Bucks equivalent to 10 complimentary eBook checkouts. More information and membership sign-up is available at brainhive.com
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