Audiobook borrowing has grown substantially across the OverDrive library and school network. Annual audiobook checkouts rose from 88 million worldwide in 2018 to 315.9 million in 2025, while school and academic library data show expanding access through apps such as Sora and Libby.
Table of contents
- Annual audiobook borrowing totals
- Year-over-year growth
- Library-system milestones
- Borrower reach and access channels
- Most-borrowed audiobook titles
- School and academic library borrowing
Annual audiobook borrowing totals
The following figures measure audiobook checkouts from libraries and schools worldwide in the OverDrive network. They are annual network totals, not a count of unique borrowers or a measure limited to one country.
| Year | Audiobook checkouts |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 88 million |
| 2019 | 114 million |
| 2020 | 138 million |
| 2022 | 191 million |
| 2023 | 235 million |
| 2024 | 278.3 million |
| 2025 | 315.9 million |
OverDrive reported 88 million audiobook checkouts in 2018. The total increased to 114 million in 2019 and 138 million in 2020. The available series then records 191 million in 2022, 235 million in 2023, 278.3 million in 2024, and 315.9 million in 2025. The published series does not provide a 2021 audiobook total in the supplied sources, so that year is not interpolated here. (Public Libraries Achieve Record-Breaking Ebook and Audiobook Usage in 2018; Public Libraries Reach Record-High Ebook and Audiobook Usage in 2019; 33% Growth for Digital Books from Public Libraries and Schools in 2020 Sets Records; OverDrive Releases 2022 Digital Book Circulation Data and Highlights; Libraries Achieve Record-Breaking Circulation of Digital Media in 2023; Libraries Break Digital Lending Records in 2024 with Over 739 million Checkouts; Libraries Break Digital Lending Records in 2025 with Over 820 Million Checkouts and Over 1 Billion Minutes Streamed)
Year-over-year growth
OverDrive reported 29% year-over-year audiobook growth in 2018 and 30% growth in 2019. Audiobook borrowing grew another 20% in 2020, 17% in 2022, 23% in 2023, 19% in 2024, and 13% in 2025. These are the growth rates reported for each measurement period; they should not be treated as a complete uninterrupted annual series because the supplied figures do not include every year.
| Measurement period | Audiobook growth | Related digital lending measure |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 vs. 2017 | 29% | Total digital checkouts grew 22% to 274 million |
| 2019 vs. 2018 | 30% | Total digital checkouts grew 20% to 326 million |
| 2020 vs. 2019 | 20% | Total digital checkouts grew 33% to 430 million |
| 2022 vs. 2021 | 17% | — |
| 2023 vs. 2022 | 23% | — |
| 2024 vs. 2023 | 19% | — |
| 2025 vs. 2024 | 13% | — |
The related digital-checkout figures include ebooks and other digital lending, so they are not audiobook totals. Total digital checkouts grew 22% to 274 million in 2018, 20% to 326 million in 2019, and 33% to 430 million in 2020. In 2020, circulation for social-justice and BIPOC/Own Voices ebook-and-audiobook titles grew 165% year over year. (Public Libraries Achieve Record-Breaking Ebook and Audiobook Usage in 2018; Public Libraries Reach Record-High Ebook and Audiobook Usage in 2019; 33% Growth for Digital Books from Public Libraries and Schools in 2020 Sets Records)
Library-system milestones
The number of library systems reaching very high digital-loan volumes also increased. Sixty-five public library systems worldwide surpassed 1 million digital book checkouts in 2018. That number rose to 73 systems in 2019 and 102 in 2020. One public library system surpassed 8 million digital checkouts in 2020.
In 2021, 121 public library systems reached at least 1 million digital book loans, including 22 systems reaching that milestone for the first time. In 2022, 129 public library systems in seven countries surpassed 1 million digital checkouts. The total reached 152 public library systems in seven countries in 2023, when one system surpassed 12 million digital checkouts.
The 2024 and 2025 figures broaden the category to include library systems, consortia, and school libraries. In 2024, 192 such organizations surpassed 1 million digital checkouts. In 2025, more than 200 did so. Because the category changes in the later reports, these figures should be read as milestone indicators rather than a perfectly uniform time series. (Public Libraries and Schools Surpass Half a Billion Digital Book Loans in 2021; OverDrive Releases 2022 Digital Book Circulation Data and Highlights; Libraries Achieve Record-Breaking Circulation of Digital Media in 2023; Libraries Break Digital Lending Records in 2024 with Over 739 million Checkouts; Libraries Break Digital Lending Records in 2025 with Over 820 Million Checkouts and Over 1 Billion Minutes Streamed)
Borrower reach and access channels
The 2021 OverDrive report found that Libby accounted for 60% of how readers used borrowed ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines across public, academic, and corporate libraries. This is a usage share across several digital formats and library settings, not an audiobook-only share.
School digital-book circulation through Sora grew 65% in 2021. Students borrowed 4.7 million books from public-library digital collections for self-selected reading through Sora, up 117% from the prior year. Sora app checkouts grew 10% in 2022, and four school systems each borrowed 1 million digital books through Sora that year.
Public Library CONNECT recorded 4.8 million digital books borrowed by students in 2022, up 3%. In 2023, students borrowed 5 million digital books through the program, up 6%. Libby app checkouts grew 17% in 2023, while first-time Libby users grew 22%. Public libraries accounted for 706.3 million digital checkouts in 2024, up 17% from 2023. (Public Libraries and Schools Surpass Half a Billion Digital Book Loans in 2021; OverDrive Releases 2022 Digital Book Circulation Data and Highlights; Libraries Achieve Record-Breaking Circulation of Digital Media in 2023; Libraries Break Digital Lending Records in 2024 with Over 739 million Checkouts)
Most-borrowed audiobook titles
The 2023 ranked list was led by Fourth Wing, followed by Spare, I’m Glad My Mom Died, Lessons in Chemistry, and A Court of Thorns and Roses. These rankings identify relative position among audiobooks borrowed from libraries in 2023; the supplied source does not provide checkout totals for each title.
The 2025 ranking changed at the top. Onyx Storm ranked first by digital checkouts, followed by The Women, Pride and Prejudice, The Crash, and Fourth Wing. The appearance of Pride and Prejudice alongside newer releases shows the range of titles represented in the ranking, but the list alone does not establish why any title ranked where it did.
School and academic library borrowing
School access expanded sharply in 2020. Sora was enabled for students at 38,000 schools in 71 countries, an 80% increase from the prior year. Students borrowed more than 10 million books through Sora, nearly triple the 2019 total. When students connected Sora to a local public library, ebook-and-audiobook checkouts rose more than 460% compared with the same period in 2019. (Schools’ Usage of Ebooks and Audiobooks Surges in 2020)
Among K–12 fiction subjects borrowed as ebooks and audiobooks in 2020, Comic and Graphic Books/Humor ranked first, Fantasy second, Picture Book Fiction third, Historical Fiction fourth, and Mystery fifth. These are subject rankings for combined ebook-and-audiobook borrowing rather than audiobook-only rankings.
During the 2022–2023 school year, Humor was the fastest-growing audiobook genre in Sora, increasing 88%. Audiobooks represented 14% of titles opened in Sora during that school year. The measure is titles opened, not completed listens or checkouts, so it describes engagement within Sora rather than total audiobook circulation.
Academic libraries show a separate expansion pattern. Audiobook circulation at academic libraries using OverDrive increased 56% in 2023 compared with 2022. This academic-library figure should not be combined with the worldwide public-library and school-network totals above because the populations and reporting scopes differ. (Student Ebook Usage Breaks Records; Nearly half of audiobook listeners borrowed from their local library and other audiobook month stats that speak volumes)
The available evidence therefore covers several related but distinct measures: worldwide network audiobook checkouts, broader digital checkouts, app activity, school borrowing, and academic-library circulation. Keeping those scopes separate is essential when interpreting audiobook borrowing statistics or comparing one library setting with another.