Officials at leading library e-book platform OverDrive said that 2023 was another record-breaking year for digital library circulation, with a 19% increase in library checkouts of digital media over 2022.
In all, library users worldwide borrowed some 662 million e-books, digital audiobooks, and digital magazines, OverDrive reps announced in a release this week. In addition, 152 library systems reported more than a million digital checkouts in 2023, up from 129 last year.
OverDrive’s popular digital reading app, Libby, hit a major milestone early in 2023, surpassing one billion total checkouts since its launch. Libby app checkouts in 2023 were up 17%, and installations of the app were up 22%. And the company’s Sora student reading platform, which serves digital readers in schools, saw checkouts rise by 11%.
OverDrive said that its 662 million total checkouts broke down as follows:
- E-books borrowed: 370 million (+12%)
- Digital audiobooks borrowed: 235 million (+23%)
- Digital magazines borrowed: 56 million (+75%)
- Digital comics and graphic novels: 37 million (+14%)
- E-book and digital audiobook holds/waitlisted: 253 million (+19%)
OverDrive officials said that the continued growth in digital checkouts in libraries and schools was driven by a mix of popular bestsellers from authors including Colleen Hoover and Rebecca Yarros, as well as new features and offerings. Those include a new library lending model, “OverDrive Max,” which offers libraries cost-effective “bundled checkouts” for 400,000 digital e-book and audiobook titles from an array of publishers.
