Friday, December 27, 2013

OverDrive’s Million Digital Checkouts Club

2013 was a banner year for OverDrive partners. To date, OverDrive digital library users have checked out 98 million titles since January 1, and that number is on pace to go over 100 million for the year. That is 30 million more checkouts than last year's record breaking tally of 70 million. These numbers directly correlate to the wonderful marketing efforts that libraries around the world are making to ensure that users are aware of their digital offerings. Libraries have been stressing the convenience of borrowing eBooks and audiobooks through OverDrive and users have responded!

While we've seen checkout increases across the board, we wanted to take some time to acknowledge our highest-circulating library partners. The following standalone library systems each had over one million checkouts of their OverDrive collection in 2013:

Each of these libraries consistently produces large checkout numbers by providing their users a robust collection, ample copies of popular titles and access to help resources and discoverability tools.

Jane Pype, Toronto's City Librarian, said, "We're thrilled that we've made the Million Checkout club this year and we're adding more content daily! We expect interest to grow even more in the years to come, particularly since more publishers have made their titles available and it’s our hope that this trend will continue. We're looking forward to seeing what next year brings for our readers of eBooks at Toronto Public Library."

Lois Langer Thompson, the director of Hennepin County Library, said, "eBooks are a key part of Hennepin County Library's collection, and we're excited to see patrons embracing eBooks as an option they can access anytime and read on their chosen device."

When alerted of the achievement, Tish Lowery of Cleveland Public Library said, "We are thrilled with the success of our OverDrive eMedia collection and it is particularly gratifying to see that our patrons are so enthusiastic about the content and the download process."

Kirk Blankenship echoed Lowery's thoughts and anticipated the continued success of their collection: "Seattle loves to read. The Seattle Public Library looks forward to working with OverDrive towards another million circulations."

Thank you to all the library staff members who spend countless hours spreading the word about OverDrive to their patrons, assisting without support questions and sharing our excitement for digital media. It is your passion for reading, regardless of format, that has made 2013 yet another record breaking year.

 

Adam Sockel is a Marketing Communications Specialist with OverDrive.

 

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