The Kobo Writing Life team is excited to announce our latest Facebook Live Q&A on November 21st 2019. From 12:00 PM-1:00 PM EST, our takeover hosts Jill and Adam, will be answering all your questions on the Kobo Writing Life Facebook page. If you can’t make the takeover, feel free to comment on this post with your questions and we can ask them for you! Keep reading to learn more about their experience with OverDrive and library systems, and get your questions ready!

Hi, fellow nerds! Our names are Jill Grunenwald and Adam Sockel and we’re the cohosts of the Professional Book Nerds podcast, where each week we offer book recommendations, preview new releases you’ll want to read, and interview your favorite authors about what inspires them.

We’ve been doing the podcast for just over four years as part of our jobs working for Rakuten OverDrive. We both work on the Marketing team helping promote the wonderful world of digital reading. Rakuten OverDrive provides 24/7 access to ebooks and audiobooks for free to readers through our 43,000+ library and school partners. All you need is a library card or student ID.

Jill has been at the company for 4+ years. Before working at OverDrive, she was a librarian, including spending time working in a prison system. Starting out as a Collection Development librarian helping libraries curate their digital collections, she now manages OverDrive’s blog and creates content and communication for library partners, presentations, and more. Jill has written two memoirs that you can learn more about on her website.

Adam has been at OverDrive 9 years. In that time, he has helped libraries create marketing campaigns, managed OverDrive’s social media platforms, and now manages the consumer marketing aspects of the company. He works with social influencers, third party vendors, and internal stakeholders to find new users for OverDrive and our award-winning app Libby through content marketing, sponsorships, book festivals, and more.

Thanks to our positions at the company and background in the literary world, we’ve formed great relationships with libraries, authors, publishers, and booksellers with the goal of creating a world enlightened by reading. Every single day, we look forward coming to work because our job is to spread the joy of reading and the sheer awesomeness of reading.

There is no better feeling than knowing that we’re helping readers find their next great read and their next favorite author. Whether it’s through OverDrive and Libby or in person, librarians are helping communities around the world discover new worlds through the power of stories. Libraries are a pillar of society and we are proud to be doing our part to spread their importance.

We look forward to taking over Kobo Writing Life to talk about promoting books through libraries, and schools, connecting with readers through social media and events, and any other questions about marketing or libraries you might have.

Adam Sockel

Adam is one half of the Professional Book Nerds podcast. He’s been working at OverDrive since 2010 where he’s responsible for helping new users discover OverDrive around the world and manages the OverDrive library blog.

Adam’s book interests are forever shifting but he’s usually reading fantasy, literature, Science Fiction, dystopian or young adult. He’s also almost always in the middle of a re-read (or re-listen) of Harry Potter.

Jill Grunenwald

Jill is the creator and other half of the Professional Book Nerds Podcast. She joined OverDrive in 2015 as a Collection Development Analyst, helping libraries select and purchase content for their users.

Jill’s favorite genres are social sciences, humanities, memoir, health & fitness, dystopian science fiction, and fantasy.