Ebook borrowing has expanded across public libraries and schools, with OverDrive reporting 370 million ebook borrows worldwide in 2023 and 366.2 million in 2024. These figures describe activity in OverDrive’s global network, not every library system, while regional and historical benchmarks show how digital lending fits into broader library use.
Contents
- Global ebook borrowing totals
- Ebooks in the wider digital mix
- Library systems reaching major milestones
- Demand, holds, and checkout conversion
- Collection economics and title availability
- Regional and public-library benchmarks
Global ebook borrowing totals
OverDrive’s annual figures provide one of the clearest continuous views of digital borrowing at a large international scale. The network recorded 331 million ebook borrows from libraries and schools worldwide in 2022, an increase of 4% from 2021. In 2023, ebook borrowing reached 370 million, up 12% year over year. The 2024 total was 366.2 million, with OverDrive reporting 7% annual growth under its stated comparison. These are provider-reported totals for the OverDrive network, rather than a census of all libraries.
The broader digital-checkout totals rose more consistently. OverDrive reported 555 million total digital checkouts in 2022, up 10% from 2021; 662 million in 2023, up 19%; and 739.5 million in 2024, up 17%. The totals include the format categories identified in each annual report, so ebook borrowing should be read as one part of a wider digital-lending service.
| Measurement period | Total digital checkouts | Ebook borrows | Reported annual change in ebook borrowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 555 million | 331 million | 4% |
| 2023 | 662 million | 370 million | 12% |
| 2024 | 739.5 million | 366.2 million | 7% |
Sources: OverDrive’s 2022 digital book circulation report, 2023 circulation report, and 2024 lending report.
The network also reached 3 billion cumulative digital-book checkouts by the end of 2022, counting from its first ebook checkout in 2003. That cumulative milestone covers digital books over the full period and should not be interpreted as 3 billion ebook borrows in a single year.
The school and youth figures show another dimension of demand. Students borrowed 4.8 million digital books through OverDrive Public Library CONNECT from classrooms in 2022, up 3% from 2021. The corresponding 2023 figure was 5 million, up 6% year over year. In 2024, children’s and young-adult titles generated 157.8 million OverDrive borrows, up 14% from the previous year.
Ebooks in the wider digital mix
Audiobooks represented a large and rapidly growing part of digital borrowing. OverDrive recorded 191 million audiobook borrows worldwide in 2022, up 17% year over year. The figure rose to 235 million in 2023, up 23%, and 278.3 million in 2024, up 19%.
Other formats also grew during the same period. Digital-magazine borrowing increased from 32 million in 2022, up 38%, to 56 million in 2023, up 75%, and 95.1 million in 2024, up 70%. Comics and graphic novels accounted for 33 million borrows in 2022, 37 million in 2023, and 44.8 million in 2024. Their reported annual growth was 18%, 14%, and 20%, respectively.
The format comparison helps explain why total digital checkouts grew even when the ebook total did not rise from 2023 to 2024. Ebook borrowing remained near the level of the previous year, while audiobooks, magazines, and comics added substantial activity. The 2022 and 2023 reports also show that growth rates varied by format: audiobook borrowing rose 17% and then 23%, while digital magazines rose 38% and then 75%.
These figures are not a measure of reading time or unique readers. They count borrows or checkouts reported through OverDrive’s network, and the categories are defined by the provider’s annual reporting.
Library systems reaching major milestones
Large circulation totals were spread across many library organizations. In 2022, 129 public-library systems in seven countries surpassed 1 million OverDrive digital-book checkouts, up 7% from 2021. Sixty-one systems surpassed 2 million checkouts, and one system surpassed 10 million.
The 2023 report recorded 152 public-library systems in seven countries above 1 million digital-book checkouts, a 13% increase from 2022. Seventy-three systems surpassed 2 million. One public-library system surpassed 12 million checkouts, while two systems surpassed 11 million.
In 2024, a record 192 library systems, consortia, and school libraries surpassed 1 million OverDrive digital checkouts. Thirty-two library systems and consortia reached million-plus digital-book circulation for the first time that year. Because the 2024 milestone includes systems and school libraries and refers to digital checkouts, it is not a directly identical population to the 2022 and 2023 public-library-only comparisons.
Community programming also generated measurable borrowing. More than 14,000 libraries held local digital book clubs through OverDrive in 2022. Titles used in the Big Library Read and Together We Read programs were borrowed more than 600,000 times that year. These program totals indicate organized participation, but they do not identify how many individual readers made those borrows.
Demand, holds, and checkout conversion
Borrowing totals show completed activity, while holds reveal demand that may precede a checkout. OverDrive recorded 214 million ebook and audiobook holds or wait-list placements worldwide in 2022, up 13% year over year. The total rose to 253 million in 2023, up 19%.
A Libby and OverDrive analysis provides more detail on what happened after a hold was placed. In a sample of more than 171 million holds from July 2022 through June 2023, 77% were fulfilled as checkouts and 23% were cancelled. Thirty-nine percent of the holds were suspended at some point. Among suspended holds, 53% were ultimately cancelled. These percentages describe the sample and should not be applied automatically to every library’s queue.
Availability times differed according to whether a hold was suspended. The median wait for title availability was 12 days when an OverDrive or Libby hold was not suspended. When a hold was suspended, the median wait was 17 days. The figures measure median wait periods in the July 2022–June 2023 sample, not a universal service standard.
Readers also signaled demand for titles that were not yet in their library’s digital collection. Libby users used the Notify Me tag 7.7 million times between April and June 2023. Those requests covered 920,000 unique titles. The measure reflects requests, not completed purchases or future checkouts.
Collection economics and title availability
Access models can change the cost profile of digital lending. From January 1 through June 8, 2023, libraries using OverDrive’s cost-per-loan access model had a reported 17% lower cost per checkout than libraries that did not use it: $0.91 compared with $1.09. In the same period, libraries using OverDrive Max had a 25% lower cost per checkout than non-users: $0.92 compared with $1.23.
The comparison is observational within the reported research. The figures show differences between users and non-users of the models; they do not establish that the access model alone caused the lower cost.
The number of distinct titles purchased through these models also increased. Titles purchased through the cost-per-loan model rose from 32,479 in May 2021 to 41,746 in May 2023, a reported 29% increase. Distinct titles purchased through OverDrive Max rose from 4,732 to 7,853 over the same months, a reported 66% increase.
OverDrive Max bundled-checkout access covered 400,000 digital ebook and audiobook titles in 2023. OverDrive also reported that more than 600,000 new titles were added to its catalog during 2023, up 12% year over year. Catalog additions and bundled access describe availability in the provider’s catalog, not the holdings of every participating library.
Regional and public-library benchmarks
England offers a regional benchmark that places ebook borrowing beside physical and audio lending. Libraries across England were estimated to record 13 million ebook loans from April 2023 through March 2024. The same period included an estimated 12 million e-audiobook loans and 130 million physical book loans.
These England figures are estimates derived from Arts Council England activity data, and the publication states that they are not official statistics. They therefore should be used as an estimated regional benchmark rather than as a precise census.
An older U.S. public-library benchmark comes from the American Library Association’s FY2012 data. A total of 5,733 libraries reported ebooks in their collections, while 3,349 libraries, or 36.9%, did not report having ebooks. Among libraries reporting ebooks, collection size ranged from 1 to 273,885 ebooks. The average collection was 15,206.6 titles, and the median was 6,280.
The same FY2012 comparison reported 10.05 total circulations per capita on average for public libraries with ebooks, with a median of 8.27. Libraries not reporting ebooks averaged 6.82 total circulations per capita, with a median of 4.98. These are total circulation measures, not ebook-only circulation rates. They also come from FY2012 and are retained as a historical benchmark rather than a current measure of digital access.
Together, the regional and historical data show why ebook borrowing statistics need careful labels. A provider network total, an estimated national loan count, a library’s collection size, a hold conversion rate, and total circulation per capita measure different parts of library activity. The measurement period, geography, format definition, and source population determine what each number can—and cannot—say about ebook use.