Digital borrowing of e-books, audiobooks, and digital magazines rose by 17% in 2024 over 2023 at OverDrive. In its announcement, OverDrive reported that worldwide borrowing totaled more than 739 million checkouts at the libraries and schools that use its Libby and Sora apps.
Some 366.2 million e-books were borrowed last year, the most of any format, but the rate of increase, 7%, was the slowest among all formats. Downloads of digital audiobook rose 19%, to 278.3 million checkouts, while comics borrowing jumped 20%, to 44.8 million. Digital magazines had the biggest gain, with checkouts jumping to 95.1 million.
A look at borrowing by channel found that public library checkouts increased 17%, to 706.3 million, while school checkouts rose 15%, to 56.2 million. OverDrive said that it added 118.9 million library users in 2024. According to company, 192 library systems, consortia, and school libraries each reached over one million digital checkouts, with more than 30 library systems and consortia surpassing the one million digital checkout mark for the first time in 2024.
The top digital checkouts through OverDrive looked very similar to top print-book sales. The Women by Kristin Hannah was #1, followed by two books Rebecca Yarros, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell and A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas took the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
