DPLA Ebooks

Everyone should have access to knowledge.

Driven by our mission to maximize access to knowledge, DPLA’s ebook program includes our partnership with Knight Foundation and Lyrasis on The Palace Project; advocating for the needs of libraries in the marketplace and negotiating for flexible licensing models available in Palace Marketplace; aggregating and curating open access titles in Palace Bookshelf; and providing easy access to government information and other data through DPLA Publications.  DPLA’s ebook work is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

An ebooks marketplace built by and for libraries

Palace Marketplace, formerly DPLA Exchange, is an e-content acquisitions platform that works seamlessly with the Palace app. With Palace Marketplace, libraries can customize diverse collections beyond the bestsellers, including non-English titles. Member libraries benefit from DPLA’s ongoing publisher negotiations for new, more favorable licensing terms, and have access to our collection of more than 11,000 open access ebooks.

DPLA's Banned Book Club ensures access to banned books

Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) has launched The Banned Book Club to ensure that all readers have access to the books they want to read. The Banned Book Club makes e-book versions of banned books available to readers in locations across the United States where titles have been banned. The e-books will be available to readers for free via the Palace e-reader app.

Utilizing GPS-based geo-targeting, DPLA has established virtual libraries in communities across the United States where books have been banned. When a reader is within a community served by a library that has been forced to ban a book, they can visit TheBannedBookClub.info to see the exact books have been banned in their area. Then, they can download that book for free on any handheld device via the free Palace e-reader app.

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Build an instant collection of free ebooks

Jumpstart your digital collection with our free Palace Bookshelf (formerly Open Bookshelf) titles. Select from more than 11,000 freely available items including classics, contemporary fiction, nonfiction, children’s books, and textbooks, all reviewed by our Curation Corps of librarians.

Simultaneous multi-user ebooks and audiobooks

DPLA has partnered with BiblioLabs to give libraries access to a growing collection of thousands of titles, including independent author collections and content from major publishers. Our simultaneous multi-user model allows an unlimited number of patrons to borrow books at the same time.

Original DPLA Publications

DPLA is also a publisher. We’ve introduced original, easy-to-read ebook versions of important government documents, including our award-winning ebook versions of the Mueller Report and The Impeachment Papers, and more recently, a finding aid to government documents related to the Covid-19 pandemic and an ebook version of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.

Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election

Senate Intelligence Committee

Published in 2020, The Senate Intelligence Committee Report of Russian Active Measures, Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election includes both volumes of the Committee’s report.

The Impeachment Papers

DPLA

The Impeachment Papers: A Compendium of Public Documents Related to the Impeachment of President Donald J. Trump, is available in an updated version that includes the documents related to the FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, as well as the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committee reports.

The Mueller Report

Special Council Robert S. Mueller, III

The enhanced version of the report includes links to more than 740 of the original documents referenced in footnotes, as well as format and tagging enhancements to make the document more accessible to those with text impairments.

DPLA’s ebook work is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.