According to stats from OverDrive, the leading distributor of digital books to libraries, digital borrowing saw a 19 percent increase overall in 2023. Here’s how much borrowing increased by format:
- Ebooks: +12%
- Audiobooks: +23%
- Magazines: +75%
- Holds for ebooks and audiobooks: +19%
The most popular ebooks borrowed from libraries in 2023:
- Verity by Colleen Hoover
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover
- It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
- Happy Place by Emily Henry
The most popular audiobooks borrowed from libraries in 2024:
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
- Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
- I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
In addition, at OverDrive’s Kanopy, which offers streaming video, hours watched increased by 14 percent.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
