Overdrive is the largest company operating in the digital library sector and many people are frequently borrowing them instead of buying. Overdrive recently conducted an “ask me anything” on Reddit and they have been showered with praise by the vast majority of users. Here are the most notable statements the company made.
“Audiobooks are absolutely trending up much like podcasts. They actually increased in popularity at a higher rate than even eBooks through OverDrive. A massive reason for this is the convenience that digital audiobooks offer as you don’t need to carry around loads of CDS. Currently we offer hundreds of thousands of audiobooks available in our marketplace and we add more each month.
“An important note is that libraries determine the content they want to purchase so if your library doesn’t have a large number of audiobooks you can always recommend that they add more. A great tool to use is our search function on https://www.overdrive.com/. You can search our full catalog and sort by audiobooks to find books you’d like that your library doesn’t currently offer. Sometimes audiobooks aren’t produced at the same time as the new release eBook or physical book which may be why you see a lag in when they’re released but if you search at overdrive.com you can peruse the millions of titles we have available.”
“Wishlists are being integrated into Libby.”
A user asked what the difference is between the main Overdrive app and Libby. “Both Libby and the OverDrive app offer the same content from your library. Libby allows readers to navigate and browse more easily across multiple libraries while you’re always one tap away from the books you have currently borrowed. Libby is best for first time users, and provides a simple, yet elegant user experience for both current and new users alike.”
“Both Libby & OverDrive have a history option. If you click the three lines in the corner on the OverDrive app. the main menu will display the history option. In Libby there is also a history tab and you can also add ‘tags’ to the books that you have read or want to read in order to keep track : https://help.libbyapp.com/tags/using-tags/ ”
“Digital content (eBooks and audiobooks) work just like physical books. Libraries pay similar prices for an eBook that they would a physical book. The one copy-one user format enable publishers and authors to be paid for their work and also ensures that they provide us those books for our libraries. Some publishers do also offer simultaneous access models where libraries can purchase those books and multiple people can borrow them at the same time. We also do global book clubs in this fashion. You can participate this October in our next one- http://biglibraryread.com/”
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
