The E-Book Dilemma: Why Library Wait Times Are So Long

First of all, let me promise that we librarians are just as frustrated by this as you are. I recently waited over a year for the e-audiobook version of Tess of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. If I had put a hold on a paper copy through the library, I likely would have gotten to read it within a month. So, what gives?

This is an issue so widespread that even NPR chimed in on it recently. As their reporter Andrew Limbong explains, prices for ebooks work differently than prices for paper books, and this puts a major strain on library budgets.

Let’s say you go to your local bookstore to purchase the book Onyx Storm, the recently released third book in a hit romantasy (romance + fantasy) series. You’ll probably pay about $30 for it. When the library orders our paper copy, we’ll get a 30% discount on it, which makes sense when you consider that our library is usually ordering somewhere in the order of five hundred books per month. This means that the library’s money stretches a bit further than it otherwise would, just like with any purchasing co-op. In the end, the library pays about $20 for this paper book.

Ebooks work a little differently, though. Libraries can’t just pop onto Amazon or Audible to purchase ebooks because we need a way to get the e-book to you and to get the e-book back from you when it’s time for the next person to borrow it. Libraries contract with companies like Libby (Overdrive) and Hoopla to provide e-content to their patrons. And this is where it starts to get sticky.

On Amazon, the Kindle version of Onyx Storm is currently available to you for an absolute steal at $15. But when the library goes to purchase an e-book copy through Overdrive or Hoopla, it’s closer to $60.

There are additional restrictions on library e-books, too. When a library “purchases” an e-book, it’s actually “licensing” the e-book, usually for “100 borrows” or “12 months,” which means that once 100 people borrow the book, or a year has passed, the library has to spend an additional $60 to license a copy of the book again if more people want to read it.

However, like with paper copies, if a book is popular, one copy isn’t enough because a lot of people want to read it, and only one person can read it at a time. Right now, there are almost 44 people in town who are waiting for the e-book God of the Woods by Liz Moore. One copy just isn’t gonna cut it.

Libraries generally want one copy for each 6-7 people waiting for a book. This helps keep the line moving and keeps folks from having to wait too long. If we have 44 people waiting for a book, that’s about 7 books. Seven paper books at library prices is $140. Seven e-books at library prices is $420, and if those e-books are licensed for only a year, the library will have to re-purchase one or many copies when that year is up.

You can see how this might start to get out of hand, especially when you consider that the Hopkinton Library’s circulation of e-content was five times higher in 2023 than in 2019. Needless to say, the library’s budget for books and e-books has not increased even close to five times.

Should we just get used to waiting six months to a year for a book we’re excited about?

For now, maybe… but maybe not for long. Massachusetts and other states have introduced bills that would standardize ebook pricing so that libraries and private individuals pay the same amount. This would reduce prices for libraries, bring ebook prices more in line with paper book prices, and reduce wait times.

If that’s something you’re interested in, you can contact your representatives and let them know that fair ebook pricing for libraries is important to you.

Until then, maybe we should start a “waiting for e-book” support group?

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Danielle Cook is the Reference and Technology Supervisor for the Hopkinton Public Library (HPL). 

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