Simply Taking Responsibility for Tomorrow and Empowering Communities with our Commitment to a “World Enlightened by Reading”.

B Corporation Today we’re incredibly proud to announce that OverDrive has become a Certified B Corporation™. So what exactly does that mean? B Corporations are a new kind of company that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. Similar to what Fair Trade Certified is to coffee, B Corporations are for-profit companies certified to meet rigorous social, workforce and environmental standards. There are currently over 2,000 Certified B Corporations in more than 50 countries from 130+ industries, such as manufacturing, consulting, solar energy, and law. OverDrive joins a robust community of forward-thinking organizations, including several well-known brands, including Ben & Jerry’s, Kickstarter, Patagonia, Etsy, and more to lead a global movement of people using business for good.

We believe that business has a higher social purpose beyond the financial performance of a company. The B Corp certification reflects the values upon which OverDrive was founded and the mission, vision and operating values we pursue today. We are taking responsibility for tomorrow; together with our 38,000 library, school and publishing partners worldwide to support communities while championing education, reading and literacy.

“Every member of OverDrive embraces the social and public mission of our library and school partners to improve communities with access to information and tools to promote literacy”, said Lori Franklin, OverDrive Chief Operating Officer. “This includes our commitment to our planet, our workforce and business partners, and the OverDrive worldwide network of public institutions dedicated to improving society via lifelong learning.”

As a B Corp, OverDrive will continue to innovate and challenge itself to the be the best following the highest standards. Not only is it the right thing to do, it aligns with the mission of our library and school partners and what we strive for each day: A World Enlightened by Reading. We seek to delight more readers every day.

Celebrating everything OverDrive stands for

  • Empowering communities with our digital reading services
  • Supporting Literacy and creating reading happiness worldwide
  • Supporting initiatives that offer work-life balance for our employees
  • Incorporating work practices and business policies that strengthen and preserve our environment for future generations.

“We are thrilled to welcome OverDrive into the Certified B Corporation community,” said Ben Anderson, Chief B Keeper at B Lab, the nonprofit that certifies B Corps. “By meeting the rigorous standards of B Corp Certification, OverDrive has shown the value they place in measuring and managing their impact and creating positive impact for all stakeholders.”

Becoming a Certified B Corporation will continue to challenge us to think about how we are affecting the environment, our partners and employees with every business decision we make. It will serve as a roadmap and guide to become a better organization over the years. We are inspired by this movement that is redefining success and building local, living economies. OverDrive believes sustainable businesses create value for everyone and is proud to be a certified B Corp.

We believe that aligning our business with a greater good is good business. As a leader in the digital reading industry, we believe we have a responsibility to be on the front line of new business practices, and we believe that we should adopt practices that can positively impact our community. The B Corporation model allows us to communicate to our community our commitment to these business practices. We happily undertook the B Corporation certification process to ensure our company’s practices were at the highest level. This badge of honor places OverDrive in the best position possible to effect change that benefits our librarians, publishers, educators, reading community and environment.