Summer is nigh, and with summer travel comes a boost in borrows of digital titles from libraries. Whether it’s an audiobook for a roadtrip or an e-book to read from a phone poolside, borrowing digital media like e-books and audiobooks with a library card is perfect for summer adventures due to their accessibility and mobility through various library service apps.
What’s that? You didn’t know you could borrow digital media from your library with your library card? You’re not alone. Despite their ever-increasing popularity year to year, lots of folks still don’t know their library card can grant them access to a host of e-media like e-books, audiobooks, movies, music, magazines, and — my personal favorite— comics. Even those who are aware and take full advantage of this benefit, often don’t know how the borrowing actually works. So, let’s take a little crash course in borrowing digital materials from your library. Whether you’re new to the concept or a regular digital library user, let’s help you become an informed library supporter.
The first thing to know is there are multiple apps that allow you to borrow e-media that you can read, listen to, or watch on your mobile device. We’ll talk about these apps later, but each one requires an active library card for access, and how long a user has access to a particular title depends on a lot of different factors, including library policies and lending models. When the title reaches its “due date,” the item “returns” automatically with the patron having to take no action. Sometimes the patron can renew the item. Something important to know as a digital library user; the library does not own these digital items. The library is simply paying the license to access these items and loan them to you. The prices of the items, the lending terms and models, and so much else are dictated by the publishers or the digital library service, not the library.
Speaking of lending models, let’s take a look at those first.
Lending Models
Below are the different lending and pricing models of library e-media and how they work. Each of the different digital library services will have their own terms for these models, even though they function the same. Most of these lending models are only seen by the library, not the borrower, and the library will take these lending models into consideration when choosing which e-media to acquire, ensuring that your only concern is whether or not the title is available.
One Copy/One User (OCOU) - This is the simplest model. A library buys a copy of a digital item, and patrons can check out that item one at a time, just like a physical item. There is often no expiration date for the item (more on that below), but since it’s only one person at a time that can have it, this can result in wait times and a hold list.
Metered Access (MA) - This is a common model for e-books and digital audiobooks which is set by the publishers. This model dictates that a digital item can be checked out only so many times or expires after a certain timeframe, whichever comes first, before the library has to purchase a new copy. For instance, the e-book of Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros might have a checkout limit of either 12, 24, or 100 checkouts or an expiration of 12 or 24 months. The models are more expensive for the library the more checkouts or time the title has. This model will sometimes allow multiple people to checkout a digital item at the same time, which means the checkout limit can hit a library very quickly if the title is popular.
Cost-Per-Circ (CPC) - In library lingo, a “circ” is short for circulation and circulation just means that an item checks out. With this model, the library pays a little bit of money every time a digital item checks out. The rate could be anywhere from $.50 to $5 or more depending on the title. This model usually has no expiration date and allows multiple people to checkout the same digital item at the same time with no wait or holds.
Simultaneous Use (SU) - This model is the most library and borrower friendly, but also the most rare. SU titles usually have no expiration date and a single digital item can be checked out by unlimited patrons with no wait or holds, with the library paying just one flat fee for the item. SU titles tend to be public domain works or by special, meticulous arrangement with publishers, such as during a community reads program.
Services/Apps
Let’s start by reviewing the most popular digital library lending services. Each one offers an app and you simply log in with your participating library’s library card to borrow e-media from the app. Keep in mind, there are other services out there besides the ones listed below, so check with your library. They may have even more variety for you.
Libby - This is the most popular and widespread library digital lending app worldwide, with 90% of public libraries in the United States and Canada participating. Libby offers e-books and digital audiobooks and some magazines. Libby is powered by the company OverDrive and, full disclosure, I used to work for OverDrive as a Content Specialist. Most titles on Libby are MA or OCOU, so holds and wait times are quite common, as patrons have items checked out or the library needs to purchase new copies, but they also have many CPC and SU options. It’s worth noting that Libby’s parent company is a pioneer and, in partnership with Cleveland Public Library years ago, is primarily responsible for bringing digital lending to libraries.
Hoopla - Hoopla takes second place in popularity of digital library apps. Hoopla provides a wide variety of e-media, including e-books, digital audiobooks, streaming music, streaming movies, and more. Hoopla is owned by Ohio-based Midwest Tape, a decades-old library vendor who specializes in supplying libraries with audiovisual material. Hoopla has the widest variety of e-media offered in a single library app. Hoopla functions primarily on the CPC model, with libraries paying monthly for the items that checked out, but they can work with Hoopla to set caps and limits to keep the spending under control.
Kanopy - Kanopy began life as an Australian library service until it was purchased by OverDrive. Kanopy is focused on streaming movies and TV shows, aiming to be a streaming competitor for not just Hoopla, but paid streaming services, as well. Kanopy primarily functions on a CPC model for its movies and shows, but Kanopy usually negotiates with a library and uses a meticulous formula to determine the likely cost, allowing a library to cap their annual spending on the service. You will see this in practice in the form of monthly “Tickets” on the service, which determine how many titles you can watch.
Comics Plus - Recently merged into the new Joyful Reading Company, Comics Plus is the only library app dedicated strictly to digital comics. A rarity for digital library services, their digital comics are primarily the SU model, so there are no wait times and no holds. Libraries typically pay one flat, annual rate for this service regardless of how many titles are checked out, which is negotiated based on the library’s size, budget, and service population. Because of this, Comics Plus is currently the least expensive of these services for most libraries.
Wait — is borrowing digital items really good for the library?
The short answer is yes. Using your library is good for the library and that includes using digital library services. There are many library patrons these days who are strictly digital readers and use their library cards regularly even if they haven’t entered a library building in years. Those patrons are just as valuable and are supporting the library like all others.
You see, when it comes time for a library to seek funding, whether it’s asking the community for a levy renewal or increase or seeking state or federal grants or asking for any larger cut of public funds, it is crucial the library demonstrates they are in demand. This means the library will track numbers of checkouts, number of people through the door, numbers of people attending programs, and the use of digital services (don’t worry, the library just tracks numbers, not identifying information). The more overall use a library is getting, the more funds they can ask for. Libraries provide services to be used, so borrowing an e-book is just as important as borrowing a paper book off the shelves.
What challenges come along with e-media lending?
That being said, there are some challenges that you should know to be an informed library user. As mentioned earlier, libraries do not own their digital content, just like you don’t own your digital content at home, and they are simply paying for the access and the license to lend. This ends up working around the right of first sale, or the First-Sale Doctrine, which is key to how libraries function. The right of first sale simply means that if you own something, you have the right resell the item, loan it out, give it away, or whatever else. It’s yours to do with as you wish. So, when a library buys a hardcover copy of a book, the library then has the legal right to stamp it, slap labels on it, and loan it you. The right of first sale, thus far, does not apply to digital items, and many publishers take advantage of this by setting lending models that are very expensive. Some publishers are even accused of essentially price-gouging libraries, charging libraries astronomically more for a digital item than an individual would pay at home. The publishers would argue these models for libraries are so expensive because e-books aren’t prone to the normal wear and tear of a physical book, so they’ll lose money on digital readers.
When I was a Collection Development Manager, selection of e-media and physical media was my responsibility. The e-book Project: Hail Mary by Andy Weir, which was in very high demand (and is popular yet again thanks to the movie), was $27.50 for the MA (Metered Access) copy of 12 months, $55 for MA copy of 24 months, or $5.50 the CPC (Cost-Per-Circ) copy. Meanwhile, the same e-book that the average customer would buy for Kindle was only $14.99 and the physical copy was only $23.99. You can see how multiple copies of an e-book can devour a library’s budget when there are dozens or even hundreds of people on hold for an e-book. But the e-book was in demand for a reason, and that’s because e-media, and access to it, are important to people for so many reasons. Librarians love the benefits to literacy digital media provides, we just don’t like the prices. We want to meet our patrons where they are, and e-media helps us do that.
“But,” you might think, “if library e-media is so much more expensive, I should stay away from it to save the library money.” But I tell you, I assure you, that is not the solution. Digital media is long past the point of no return, inarguably here to stay, and librarians want to keep lending it for the benefit of our communities.
Here’s how you can help.
We need you, yes you, to contact your state and federal representatives and demand they legislate fair library pricing of e-media. Get your friends and family to do the same. Make it a priority. If enough members of the public start shouting about it, the more likely politicians may pay attention and take action. Take, for example, the Author-Library Alliance or this proposed Minnesota legislation. Remember, public libraries purchase e-media with public funds, so if the publishers are charging the libraries more, they are actually charging you more.
Remember this important detail: demands for fair pricing of library e-media will be useless unless people are using e-media. The more people using these services, though they may be financially painful for a library in the short term, can help implement needed change in the longterm. Proving the demand helps prove the case. And I assure you, your library has been dealing with this issue for a long time, so they’ve got things under control to make sure e-books, digital audiobooks, and more are available to their communities. If you are a digital library power user or only just learning its even an option, hop onto your library’s website and see what digital services they offer and find something new to read, watch, or listen to instantly from the comfort of home.
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