2015 Survey of Ebook Usage in U.S. Public Libraries 1 SIXTH ANNUAL Survey of Ebook Usage in U.S. Public Libraries September 2015 Analysis by Richard Romano Edited by Laura Girmscheid and Barbara Genco Sponsored by © 2015 Library Journal. All rights reserved. www.LibraryJournal.com SPONSORED BY FREADING 2015 Survey of Ebook Usage in U.S. Public Libraries 2 CONTENTS Executive Summary ..................................................................................................... 5 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 11 About the 2015 Library Journal Ebook Survey .............................................................. 11 How This Report Is Organized ...................................................................................... 11 Data Presentation ........................................................................................................ 11 Chapter Structure ......................................................................................................... 12 For More Information ................................................................................................... 13 1. Supply and Demand .............................................................................................. 14 Offer Ebooks ................................................................................................................. 14 Libraries Without Ebooks ............................................................................................. 16 Ebook Plans .................................................................................................................. 18 How Long Libraries Have Offered EbooKs .................................................................... 19 How Many EbooKs? ...................................................................................................... 20 Print Book Collection .................................................................................................... 22 Demand for EbooKs ...................................................................................................... 23 EbooK Circulation .......................................................................................................... 26 Print Book Circulation ................................................................................................... 28 Changes in Circulation/Usage ...................................................................................... 29 Download vs. Online Reading ....................................................................................... 32 Holds-to-Copy Ratio ...................................................................................................... 33 Early Return .................................................................................................................. 35 Facilitating Discoverability ............................................................................................ 36 In Summary ................................................................................................................... 37 In Their Own Words ...................................................................................................... 38 2. Collections and Categories ..................................................................................... 40 Fiction vs. Nonfiction .................................................................................................... 40 Adult vs. Children vs. YA Titles ...................................................................................... 42 In-Demand EbooK Genres ............................................................................................. 45 Non-English Ebooks ...................................................................................................... 47 Self-Published Ebooks ................................................................................................... 49 Other Econtent ............................................................................................................. 53 Growing Econtent......................................................................................................... 55 Patron Recommendations ............................................................................................ 56 Reordering EbooKs ........................................................................................................ 57 Renewal Decisions ........................................................................................................ 58 Weeding the Collection ................................................................................................ 59 In Summary ................................................................................................................... 60 In Their Own Words ...................................................................................................... 60 © 2015 Library Journal. All rights reserved. www.LibraryJournal.com SPONSORED BY FREADING 2015 Survey of Ebook Usage in U.S. Public Libraries 3 3. Users and Usability ................................................................................................ 62 OPAC Discoverability .................................................................................................... 62 Accuracy of Vendor-Supplied Metadata ...................................................................... 63 Catalog Integrated with Ebook Provider’s Site ............................................................. 65 Print and EbooK ChecKout Histories ............................................................................. 66 The “Buy Now” Option ................................................................................................. 67 Ereading Barriers .......................................................................................................... 68 The Biggest Complaint ................................................................................................. 71 Patrons’ Concerns and Requests .................................................................................. 72 In Summary ................................................................................................................... 80 In Their Own Words ...................................................................................................... 80 4. Budgets and Buying ............................................................................................... 82 EbooKs and Materials Budgets ..................................................................................... 82 Last Year’s Budget ........................................................................................................ 82 This Year’s Budget ........................................................................................................ 83 2020 Budget ................................................................................................................. 86 EbooKs Purchased ......................................................................................................... 88 Current Spending .......................................................................................................... 90 Reallocation of Resources ............................................................................................ 92 Impact on Print BooK Purchasing ................................................................................. 94 Print and Ebook Buyers ................................................................................................ 95 Purchasing Terms ......................................................................................................... 96 Preferred Purchasing Terms ......................................................................................... 97 Consortium Membership .............................................................................................. 99 Vendors Used and Preferred ...................................................................................... 101 Preferred Vendors ...................................................................................................... 103 “Recommend for Purchase” ....................................................................................... 105 In Summary ................................................................................................................. 106 In Their Own Words .................................................................................................... 106 5. Ebooks and Ereaders ............................................................................................ 107 Availability of Reading Devices ................................................................................... 107 Which Ereaders Do Libraries Circulate ....................................................................... 109 Preloaded Ereaders .................................................................................................... 111 Ereaders in the OPAC .................................................................................................. 113 In Summary ................................................................................................................. 114 In Their Own Words ...................................................................................................