Perlego becomes biggest online resource for academic theological textbooks

@Perlego amasses the world’s largest online subscription for theology resources 

Following new partnerships with numerous major theology publishers, Perlego has become the biggest online resource for academic theological textbooks.

Perlego, the largest online subscription service for educational books has announced partnerships with 1517 Media, SCM, Zondervan and SPCK, taking its collection of online theology resources to over 24,365 titles ahead of the new academic year. 

Textbooks related to the study of theology have become increasingly popular on Perlego. The platform offers access to more than 400,000 textbooks across hundreds of subject areas – and theology texts consistently appear amongst the most read, with 12 titles in the top 50. 

Michael Bird’s ‘Evangelical Theology’, Justo Gonzalez’ ‘The Story of Christianity: Volume 1’ and Andrew Hill and John Walton’s ‘A Survey of the Old Testament’ all appear in the top ten. 

Perlego founder and CEO Gauthier Van Malderen highlighted the restricted access to libraries and physical resources students face upon return to university as central to the platform’s growth. 

Van Malderen said: “It is now more important than ever to ensure students can access the books they need, wherever they are, so we’re delighted to be adding new publishers to our platform to help minimise the impact on students’ studies as much as possible.” 

Alexandra McDonald, SPCK and IVP Commercial Director, also emphasised the need for educational platforms which can support the current demand for remote learning.

McDonald added: “It’s incredibly promising to see the rise in popularity of theological education in the UK, but the new semester is likely to throw up challenges for many of them, meaning an increased demand for online subscription models that facilitate more flexible ways to study. Our partnership with Perlego couldn’t come at a more important time, ensuring our content is even more accessible to those that need it.”

Will Bergkamp, VP of Business Development at 1517 Media, said:

“Perlego sits in an interesting and promising new space for student textbook access. Fortress Press is pleased to join them and to make our titles available to via a subscription model that is fair to both students and to content creators.”

Since March, Perlego has seen a dramatic increase in users, and subscribers have spent more than 152,000 hours (17.2 years) reading on the platform. As students start a new academic year, Perlego has also partnered with some of the top theology courses across the UK to assist remote learning and digital access.