From OverDrive:
A record 73 public library systems in five countries loaned over 1 million digital books to readers in 2019. Achieving this unprecedented level of reader engagement: 45 city or county library systems and 28 regional or state consortiums. Eight libraries reached this million book milestone for the first time.
[The following] data was reported by Rakuten OverDrive for over 43,000 libraries and schools worldwide.
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2019 digital book lending records from the OverDrive global network include:
- Total digital checkouts from libraries and schools: 326 million (+20% over 2018)
- Ebooks borrowed: 211 million (+15%)
- Audiobooks borrowed: 114 million (+30%, outpacing ebooks for the 6th straight year)
- Ebook and audiobook holds/wait listed: 129 million (+21%)
- Children/YA genre checkouts: 59 million (+27%)
- 73 public library systems around the world (+12%) with over 1 million digital book checkouts, including 22 over 2 million checkouts, five over 3 million, four over 4 million, five over 5 million and one over 6 million
- New public library (digital) users: 5 million (+12%)
Most popular ebooks borrowed from libraries in 2019:
- Where the Crawdads Singby Delia Owens (Penguin Publishing Group)
- Becoming by Michelle Obama (Crown)
- Educated by Tara Westover (Random House Publishing Group)
- Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (Flatiron Books)
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (Penguin Publishing Group)
Most popular audiobooks borrowed from libraries in 2019:
- Becoming by Michelle Obama (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group)
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group)
- Educated by Tara Westover (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group)
- Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis (Thomas Nelson)
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling (Pottermore Publishing)
Top digital books borrowed from libraries by genre:
- Adult fiction: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (Penguin Publishing Group)
- Adult nonfiction: Becoming by Michelle Obama (Crown)
- Young adult fiction: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (HarperCollins – Balzer + Bray)
- Children’s fiction: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling (Pottermore Publishing)
About Gary Price
