Christina Guest of Royal Oak reads an ebook. The Midwest Collaborative for Library Services achieved two million digital book checkouts last year.
A milestone two million ebooks and audiobooks were checked out through the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services’ OverDrive group in 2019.
According to Forbes, the number of OverDrive digital checkouts rose by 20 percent since 2018. Last year, the top ebook title borrowed from the digital collection was “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens, and the top audiobook was “Becoming” by Michelle Obama.
“When the MCLS OverDrive group first began, libraries took a major gamble. We couldn’t predict what would happen,” said Scott Garrison, executive director at Midwest Collaborative for Library Services.
“Clearly, the gamble has paid off, and it is so gratifying to see how successful this program has been. Reaching the milestone of two million checkouts shows how greatly many, many users value 24/7 access to books from their libraries.”
Midwest Collaborative for Library Services is made up of more than 650 member libraries in Michigan and Indiana, including Brandon Township, Orion Township, Royal Oak, South Lyon and Troy public libraries.
With a valid library card, patrons can borrow books at mlc.overdrive.com or through the mobile app Libby, which was named one of Popular Mechanics’ 20 Best Apps of the 2010s and one of PCMag’s Best Free Software of 2019.
Through the app, readers can browse the library’s digital collection, put books on hold, instantly borrow titles and start reading or listening for free. All titles automatically expire at the end of the lending period (the default is 14 days), and there are no late fees. Readers can also download the borrowed books for offline use.
“Our OverDrive group has worked together really well for many years to make this possible. This achievement is a testament to how well they have worked to deliver for their users, on a large scale,” said Garrison.
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