OverDrive Reports Gains in Digital Lending

Jan 06, 2016

A record number of readers turned to their local library to borrow and download popular e-books and audiobooks in 2015, according to Overdrive, a digital distribution platform that serves over 90 percent of libraries in the U.S.

Overdrive reported that readers borrowed more than 169 million digital books in 2015, marking an increase of 24 percent over 2014 with a notable surge in audiobooks usage, which achieved a faster growth rate than e-book library borrowing.  

Highlights of record-setting growth from the OverDrive network of lending libraries for 2015 include:

-Total digital titles borrowed from libraries & schools: 169 million (+24% over 2014)
    -e-book circulation: 125 million (+19% growth over 2014)
    -Digital audiobook circulation: 43 million (+36% growth over 2014)
    -Streaming video circulation (+83% over 2014)
    -Introduced in late 2014, the circulation of digital magazines and newspapers      also grew significantly in 2015
-33 library systems circulated 1 million or greater digital books during 2015
-Reader visits to OverDrive-powered library & school websites: 750 million (+14% increase from 2014)

The most popular e-books and audiobooks of 2015 borrowed from libraries (based on checkouts + holds) is as follows:

Top eBooks borrowed from libraries:

1.    The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (Penguin Publishing Group)
2.    All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (Scribner)
3.    Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (Crown/Archetype)
4.    The Martian, Andy Weir (Crown/Archetype)
5.    Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee (HarperCollins)

Top digital audiobooks borrowed from libraries:

1.    The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (Books on Tape)
2.    All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (Simon & Schuster Audio)
3.    Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group)
4.    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling (Pottermore)
5.    Yes Please, Amy Poehler (HarperCollins)

Top digital books borrowed from libraries in other categories:

Adult nonfiction e-book: Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand (Random House Publishing Group). Children/YA fiction e-book: The Maze Runner, James Dashner (Random House Children’s books).
Children/YA nonfiction e-book: Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson (Penguin Young Readers Group).
Children/young adult fiction audiobook: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling (Pottermore)
Read-Along e-books: Scaredy Squirrel at Night, Mélanie Watt (Kids Can Press Ltd.)

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