Record Number of Libraries Surpass One Million eBook and Audiobook Checkouts in 2015
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Digital book lending continues significant growth, with audiobooks increasing fastest
BOSTON— January 07, 2016 — Librarians across the nation are celebrating the record-setting pace that their digital collections are lending as they convene at the American Library Association’s (ALA) Midwinter Conference, January 8-11, 2015. OverDrive announced today that among the hundreds of libraries across North America that have set annual records for lending digital books during 2015, 33 library systems exceeded one million digital books circulated. Additionally, all systems experienced significant year-over-year growth from 2014.
As the industry leader in digital lending for public and school libraries, OverDrive reports that in 2015 public library readers borrowed more than 169 million eBooks, audiobooks, digital periodicals and streaming video. This represents an increase of 24 percent over 2014. Digital audiobooks, in particular, grew at the highest rate (+36%). See more 2015 statistics here.
The following libraries circulated at least one million digital books in 2015:
3 million or more digital books circulated
-- Toronto Public Library (ON) +31% growth over 2014
2 million or more digital books circulated
-- King County Library System (WA) +25%
-- New York Public Library (NY) +24%
1 million or more digital books circulated
-- Los Angeles Public Library (CA) +40%
-- Seattle Public Library (WA) +24%
-- Cleveland Public Library (OH) +26%
-- Hennepin County Library (MN) +14%
-- Cuyahoga County Public Library (OH) +37%
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Note: I limited the last list to the Top 5 libraries. See article for complete list.