LibraryPass
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersAustin, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
LibraryPass firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- LibraryPass
- Legal name
- LibraryPass, Inc.
- Website
- https://librarypass.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
LibraryPass industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Library Content Platform
- NAICS
- Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192), Software Publishers (513210), Book Publishers (513130)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Library & Electronic Resources Operations (e-Resources, Repositories, Licensing) (EDAEAGAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Library Collections & Cataloging Services (Acquisitions, Metadata, Circulation) (EDAEAGAE), E-book Subscription & Bundling Services (MPAJAMAB), Children’s & All-Ages Comics Publishing (MPAJAGAI), Academic & Research Library Operations (College/University Libraries) (EDAEAGAB)
Keywords
Where LibraryPass is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Austin
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
LibraryPass business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Subscription Licensing: LibraryPass generates revenue by licensing unlimited simultaneous access to Comics Plus collections to schools and libraries. Subscribers pay annual fees for access to the digital catalog of comics, manga, and picture books without per-checkout charges or hold restrictions.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Schools subscription with unlimited simultaneous access to curated digital comics, manga, and picture books |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
LibraryPass product offering
Product offeringCore offering
LibraryPass operates Comics Plus, a digital comics, manga, and picture books platform that licenses unlimited simultaneous access to a curated catalog of thousands of titles from library-friendly publishers (including ABDO, Andrews McMeel, Dark Horse, Image Comics, Kodansha, Yen Press, and more) exclusively to K-12 schools, public libraries, and academic libraries via annual subscription. The platform features no holds, wait lists, or per-checkout costs for end users, and organizes content into age-appropriate collections spanning Elementary through Adult audiences.
Product overview
LibraryPass operates Comics Plus, a digital comics, manga, and picture books platform that provides unlimited, simultaneous access to thousands of titles from library-friendly publishers exclusively through schools and libraries. As of March 2026, Comics Plus became part of The Joyful Reading Company, joining forces with Beanstack (a reading engagement platform) to create a connected ecosystem. The product portfolio includes Comics Plus (the core content platform), organized into age-appropriate collections (Elementary, Middle School, High School, Teen Public Library, All-Access for Schools, Children's Public Library, Full Collection), supplemented by educational resources such as Classroom Connections (curriculum-aligned guides), Book Club materials, and Rob's Advisory (monthly curated selections). The platform serves 3,500+ schools and libraries in the US and abroad, featuring publishers like ABDO, Andrews McMeel, Capstone, Cherry Lake, Dark Horse, Europe Comics, Fantagraphics, Humanoids, IDW, Image Comics, Kodansha, Lerner, Mad Cave, Manga Classics, Oni Press, Papercutz, Tokyopop, TOON Books, UDON Entertainment, and Yen Press.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Comics Plus: A platform providing unlimited simultaneous access to digital comics, manga, and picture books exclusively through schools and libraries.
Products and services
- Comics Plus Comics Plus is a digital comics, manga, and picture books platform providing unlimited simultaneous access to thousands of titles from 100+ library-friendly publishers, organized into age-appropriate collections (Elementary, Middle School, High School, Teen Public Library, All-Access for Schools, Children's Public Library, and Full Collection). The platform is licensed exclusively to K-12 schools, public libraries, and academic libraries via annual subscriptions, with no holds, wait lists, or per-checkout costs for end users who authenticate via library cards or school IDs.
Quantifiable outcome
- 2025 was a record year with readers in 3,500+ libraries and schools checking out more than 2 million graphic novels, manga, and picture books
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use LibraryPass
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
LibraryPass technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
LibraryPass partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
27 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Beanstack (The Joyful Reading Company)coreComics Plus joined The Joyful Reading Company by merging with Beanstack (reading engagement platform). The combined entity creates an integrated ecosystem where Comics Plus provides content discovery and unlimited access, while Beanstack provides reading challenges and community engagement tools. LibraryPass CEO Ian Signer now works alongside Beanstack founder Felix Lloyd.
- ABDOcoreLibrary-friendly educational publisher providing fiction and nonfiction graphic novels for PreK-Grade 12 students through Comics Plus unlimited access.
- Andrews McMeelcoreMajor comics publisher including Big Nate, Milk & Mocha, and various humor comics available through Comics Plus unlimited licensing.
- CapstonecoreEducational publisher providing graphic biographies and nonfiction comics for schools and libraries through Comics Plus.
- Dark Horse ComicscoreMajor comics publisher including Avatar: The Last Airbender, Stranger Things, and Disney Mirrorverse titles available through Comics Plus.
- Europe ComicscorePan-European alliance of publishers making European graphic novel heritage available digitally. Catalog of 1,000+ titles available through Comics Plus.
- Image ComicscoreThird largest US comics publisher including Invincible, Kick-Ass, Monstress, Saga, and The Walking Dead now available through Comics Plus unlimited access.
- KodanshacoreJapan's largest manga publisher's US subsidiary making extensive manga catalog available for unlimited library access through Comics Plus.
- Yen PresscoreMajor manga and OGN publisher adding 1,000+ titles to Comics Plus including Yotsuba&!, Konosuba, and Sword Art Online.
- FantagraphicscoreAward-winning independent publisher bringing critically acclaimed titles to Comics Plus for the first time in digital format.
- UDON EntertainmentcoreManga publisher providing titles like Kill la Kill, Persona 3, and Street Fighter through Comics Plus.
- Saturday AMcoreDigital manga publisher focused on diverse characters and global artists, partnering with Comics Plus for library distribution.
- Valiant EntertainmentcoreLargest independent comics universe publisher with 1,500+ titles now available including day & date access to newest releases.
- HumanoidscorePublisher with 500+ titles including works by Mark Waid, making their catalog available through Comics Plus.
- Oni PresscoreIndependent publisher with full digital catalog now available for unlimited library access through Comics Plus.
- TOON BookscoreInnovative all-ages comics imprint making full catalog available for unlimited access through Comics Plus.
- TKO StudioscoreInnovative publisher offering day & date access to entire digital catalog including Jeff Lemire, Roxane Gay, and Garth Ennis titles.
- Cherry LakecoreEducational publisher providing picture books and graphic content aligned with school curriculum through Comics Plus.
- Lerner PublishingcoreEducational publisher providing graphic biographies and nonfiction comics including the Graphic Biographies series.
- IDW PublishingcorePublisher including Sonic the Hedgehog, The Walking Dead adaptations, and licensed properties available through Comics Plus.
- PapercutzcorePublisher making graphic novel adaptations and all-ages titles available through Comics Plus.
- TokyopopcoreMajor manga publisher including Disney Descendants and Alter Ego available through Comics Plus.
- Media Do InternationalcoreUS subsidiary of Japan's largest eBook distributor, facilitating manga content partnerships with Comics Plus.
- Graphic Mundi (Penn State University Press)minorImprint publishing graphic novels addressing health, human rights, politics, environment, science, and technology including award-winning COVID Chronicles and Crude.
- Scout ComicsminorPublisher developing creator-owned comics with potential for TV, film, and video game adaptation including Black Cotton and Action Tank.
- Mad Cave StudiosminorIndependent publisher offering titles through Comics Plus including Navigating With You.
- LibraryCon Live (Library Journal / School Library Journal)coreAnnual virtual event celebrating comics and manga sponsored by LibraryPass, featuring programming on readers' advisory, collection management, and programming for schools and libraries.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
LibraryPass competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Mackin: Mackin is a long-established K-12 content and library materials provider, offering print and digital content, including ebooks, to school libraries. It overlaps with LibraryPass in the school library procurement channel but at much broader scope.
- EBSCO: EBSCO provides research databases, ebooks, and library services to academic and school libraries globally. It is a much larger incumbent with overlapping distribution relationships and budget authority at the same institutional customers.
- ProQuest: ProQuest (Clarivate) provides academic libraries with ebooks, dissertations, and databases — a broad incumbent that competes for academic library digital content budgets alongside LibraryPass's higher-ed segment.
Direct peers
- BiblioBoard (BiblioLabs): BiblioBoard (acquired by EBSCO) distributes curated digital content — ebooks, audiobooks, and creator works — to public libraries on unlimited simultaneous access. It shares LibraryPass's library-exclusive, unlimited-access DNA.
- Capstone Interactive: Capstone is both a publisher partner of LibraryPass and a direct operator of Capstone Interactive, an ebook platform serving K-12 schools. It competes for the same school library budgets with curriculum-aligned digital content.
- Kanopy: Kanopy licenses films and educational video content to public libraries and universities on an unlimited-access model. It mirrors LibraryPass's institutional licensing and equitable access strategy across a different content vertical.
- OverDrive: OverDrive operates Libby/Sora, the dominant digital ebook and audiobook lending platform for public libraries and K-12 schools. It is the most direct competitor to LibraryPass in delivering licensed digital content to the same institutional buyer.
- Sora (OverDrive): Sora is OverDrive's student-facing reading app designed specifically for K-12 schools — the same primary customer segment as LibraryPass — and includes comics and graphic novels from major publishers in its catalog.
- Hoopla Digital: Hoopla provides libraries with instant, simultaneous access to ebooks, audiobooks, comics, and streaming media — a B2B library content platform with a similar unlimited-access philosophy to Comics Plus, overlapping in comics content.
Emerging players
- BookFlix (Scholastic): Scholastic's BookFlix is a K-12 digital literacy platform pairing fiction and nonfiction video storybooks, targeting the same elementary school library and curriculum budgets as LibraryPass's Elementary collection.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
LibraryPass social profiles
Digital presenceLibraryPass compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
LibraryPass financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
LibraryPass leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
LibraryPass funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
LibraryPass M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about LibraryPass
What does LibraryPass do?
LibraryPass operates Comics Plus, a digital comics, manga, and picture books platform that licenses unlimited simultaneous access to a curated catalog of thousands of titles from library-friendly publishers (including ABDO, Andrews McMeel, Dark Horse, Image Comics, Kodansha, Yen Press, and more) exclusively to K-12 schools, public libraries, and academic libraries via annual subscription. The platform features no holds, wait lists, or per-checkout costs for end users, and organizes content into age-appropriate collections spanning Elementary through Adult audiences.
Is LibraryPass a public or private company?
LibraryPass is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was LibraryPass founded?
LibraryPass was founded in 2015. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is LibraryPass based?
LibraryPass is headquartered in Austin, United States, in the North America region.
How does LibraryPass make money?
One revenue line is on record: subscription Licensing.
Who are LibraryPass's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Mackin, EBSCO and ProQuest. Direct peers are BiblioBoard (BiblioLabs), Capstone Interactive, Kanopy, OverDrive, Sora (OverDrive) and Hoopla Digital. BookFlix (Scholastic) is listed as an emerging player.
Does LibraryPass have an API?
No public API is recorded for LibraryPass.
What industry is LibraryPass in?
LibraryPass's product category is Digital Library Content Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAEAGAF, Digital Library & Electronic Resources Operations (e-Resources, Repositories, Licensing), with a secondary code of EDAEAGAE, Library Collections & Cataloging Services (Acquisitions, Metadata, Circulation). Its NAICS code is 5192 and its SIC code is 2731.