Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden

What Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden does

Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden is a non-profit Dutch public library organization operating under the Wet stelsel openbare bibliotheekvoorzieningen (Dutch Public Library Act), serving the municipalities of Boekel, Gemert-Bakel, and Laarbeek in the province of North Brabant. The organization runs four physical branch locations, with its headquarters at St Agathaplein 6, 5427 AB Boekel, and employs 27 staff. Its core offering combines a physical collection of roughly 75,000 items with access to 4.3 million+ digital items nationally and 35 million items across all Dutch libraries via the interlibrary loan network, extended further by academic borrowing through WorldCat Discovery.

The technology backbone is the OCLC Wise library management system, which powers the online catalog, the Bibliotheek Wise-app, and the legacy eBieb mobile app. Beyond traditional lending, the library operates digital services (Online Bibliotheek for e-books/audiobooks, digital magazines, podcasts, online courses), specialized physical collections (Grootletterboeken large-print, Friese Boeken, sheet music, films, music CDs, themed collections and lending trunks), and a Sprinters fast-track lending service for new releases. Educational and community services include Bibliotheek op school (DBos), Makkelijk Lezen Plein, Taalhuis language-learning centers across all three municipalities, organized Leesclubs, and accessibility services such as Boekendienst aan huis home delivery and reading/computer assistance. An IDO information point provides civic services including tax-filing and donor-registration support.

Revenue mechanics are diversified across recurring and transactional streams: paid memberships (with free membership for under-18s), interlibrary loan fees (€4 per request to other Dutch libraries; €13 per item for academic loans via WorldCat Discovery), late-return fees with a "boetevrij lenen" option, reading-club book sales at €4.50 per copy for 6-week loans through the Leesclubshop (operated by Bibliotheek Dommeldal), and an education webshop. The organization distributes services through its branches, mobile apps, two e-commerce storefronts (Onderwijs bestelshop, Leesclubshop), the home delivery channel, and school partnerships, with public engagement via Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and a Mailchimp newsletter. The entity is a regulated public-service provider whose revenue base is structurally dependent on municipal subsidy rather than market-rate monetization.

Name

Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden

Legal name

Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden

Website

https://bibliotheeklagebeemden.nl

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden is a non-profit Dutch public library serving Boekel, Gemert-Bakel and Laarbeek in North Brabant. It operates four branches on the OCLC Wise platform, offering ~75,000 local items plus national and interlibrary access, digital services, Taalhuis language learning, school partnerships, and home delivery.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Library Services

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Libraries & Information Services (BPAIACAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Library-Based Learning Programs (Public Libraries) (EDAAAFAA), Interlibrary Loan (ILL) & Resource Sharing Operations (EDAEAGAK), Reading & Literacy Intervention Materials for Learning Disabilities (Dyslexia, Decoding, Comprehension) (EDAGAMAH)

Keywords

• Public library services
• Interlibrary loan
• Community education programs
• Digital lending platform
• Reading club services

Headquarters

HQ city

Boekel

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership subscriptions: Paid library memberships providing access to physical and digital collections, with free membership for members under 18 years old
2. Interlibrary loan fees: Fees charged for requesting materials from other Dutch libraries (€4 per request) and from academic/university libraries (€13 per item through WorldCat Discovery)
3. Late fees and fines: Penalty fees for overdue materials (boetevrij lenen mentioned as a special option, implying standard late fee system)
4. Leesclubshop book sales: Reading club book sales through dedicated webshop, with books provided at €4.50 per copy for 6-week loan periods
5. Education webshop: Onderwijs bestelshop for educational materials serving schools

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden operates a multi-branch public library serving the municipalities of Boekel, Gemert-Bakel, and Laarbeek in North Brabant, Netherlands. It provides members with access to approximately 75,000 local physical items and 35 million items through interlibrary loan, including books, e-books, audiobooks, digital magazines, films, music CDs, sheet music, and online courses. Complementary services include the Taalhuis language learning program, Bibliotheek op School partnerships, reading clubs, home delivery for less mobile residents, and an education webshop for schools.

Product overview

Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden operates as a multi-branch public library serving the municipalities of Boekel, Gemert-Bakel, and Laarbeek in the Netherlands. The offering is a unified public library service combining physical and digital collections across multiple formats and access channels. The core is the physical collection and catalog (Collectie & Catalogus), with a national collection gateway (Landelijke Collecties) providing access to over 4.3 million items across all Dutch libraries. Digital services center on the Online Bibliotheek (e-books and audiobooks), the eBieb app and Bibliotheek Wise app for mobile access, and digital magazines. Specialized collections include Grootletterboeken (large print books, 1,260+ titles), Friese Boeken (Frisian-language materials), Bladmuziek (sheet music), films, and music CDs. Educational and community services include Bibliotheek op School, Makkelijk Lezen Plein, Taalhuis (language learning), and Online Cursussen (online courses). Accessibility services include Boekendienst aan Huis (home delivery) and reading/computer assistance. The Leesclubshop enables organized reading groups, and interlibrary loan (including WorldCat Discovery for academic books) extends the collection reach. An agenda/event system, IDO information point, and civic services (tax assistance, donor registration) round out the offering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• eBieb app: Mobile application for searching and reserving books via tablet or smartphone
• Bibliotheek Wise-app
• Taalhuis
• Bibliotheek op school
• Makkelijk Lezen Plein
• Sprinters
• Online Bibliotheek
• Leesclubshop

Products and services

• Collectie & Catalogus

Quantifiable outcome

• 35 million items accessible through interlibrary loan across Dutch libraries
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Library of the Netherlands)coreTechnology or IntegrationKoninklijke Bibliotheek provides national digital library services including onlinebibliotheek.nl and bibliotheek.nl. Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden exchanges limited member data with the Koninklijke Bibliotheek to enable members to access e-books, audiobooks, and digital magazines through the national online library platform. The Koninklijke Bibliotheek manages these services and their own privacy policy applies for those platforms.
• Provinciale Ondersteuningsinstelling (Provincial Support Institution)coreTechnology or IntegrationThe Provinciale Ondersteuningsinstelling is the service provider responsible for the functioning, management, and maintenance of library management software used by Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden for member and transaction administration and collection management.
• Leesclubshop (Bibliotheek Dommeldal)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLeesclubshop is a reading club book sales service operated by Bibliotheek Dommeldal. It provides curated book selections for reading clubs across multiple Dutch libraries. Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden participates in this service, offering reading clubs access to over 530 book titles across literary, historical, and biographical genres at €4.50 per copy.
• Schools and childcare (De Bibliotheek op school/DBos)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSchools and childcare organizations collaborate with Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden through the De Bibliotheek op School (DBos) program. In this arrangement, the library acts as a data processor for schools with which it has a cooperation agreement. The program brings library services directly to educational settings.
• OCLC (Wise library system)coreTechnology or IntegrationThe library uses OCLC Wise, a comprehensive library management system, for catalog management, member administration, online catalog access, and interlibrary loan processing. The system provides the technical infrastructure for the online catalog (bibliotheek.wise.oclc.org) and mobile apps.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bibliotheek Eindhoven: Larger public library serving Eindhoven in North Brabant under the same Dutch Public Library Act. Directly comparable in mandate, services (Taalhuis, Bibliotheek op school), and operating model, though at larger scale.
• Bibliotheek Dommeldal: Neighboring Dutch public library organization in North Brabant. Directly comparable regional public library; also a partner via the Leesclubshop reading-club webshop used by Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden.
• Bibliotheek Helmond: Another North Brabant municipal public library operating under the same Dutch Public Library Act. Directly comparable in scope and service offering, and a potential cooperation partner in the regional library network.

Broad incumbents

• Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB): National Royal Library of the Netherlands, which coordinates the Dutch public library system and provides the digital infrastructure (Online Bibliotheek) that Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden leverages. Operates broadly across the sector rather than as a single-branch local library.
• Bibliotheek Rotterdam: Major metropolitan public library in the Netherlands operating under the Dutch Public Library Act. Comparable in mission and statutory mandate, with overlapping services including digital lending, Taalhuis-equivalent programs, and school partnerships, but at a much larger scale.
• Bibliotheek Utrecht: Major Dutch public library organization serving Utrecht. Same statutory framework and comparable service portfolio (digital lending, educational programs, community services) but operating at metropolitan scale.
• Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (OBA): Largest public library in the Netherlands. Operates under the same national framework but at significantly larger scale, offering a benchmark for service breadth and digital maturity that smaller libraries like Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden can learn from or partner with.

Others

• OCLC: Global library technology cooperative that provides the OCLC Wise library management system used by Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden. Not a peer in service delivery but a critical infrastructure and technology provider underpinning catalog and ILL operations.
• Online Bibliotheek (via KB): National digital lending platform operated by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. Provides e-books, audiobooks, and digital magazines to members of Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden; adjacent digital-distribution complement to physical library services.

Regional players

• Biblionet Groningen: Provincial library support organization for Groningen providing IT, collection management, and member services to local libraries. Comparable function to the Provinciale Ondersteuningsinstelling that supports Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden, but in a different region.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/bibliotheekdelagebeemden
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bibliotheek-de-lage-beemden
• Instagraminstagram.com/bibliotheekdelagebeemden

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bibliotheek De Lage Beemden