Digital Public Library Ecosystem 2023

The Digital Public Library Ecosystem is the network of digital book collection and circulation specifically through public libraries. Three factors contribute to current confusion about the digital public library ecosystem. One, essential terms like reading, library use, circulation, and holds have been inconsistently defined across the industry and in other reports. Two, the digital public library ecosystem is complex, and different elements of the ecosystem do not necessarily work or communicate with each other directly. Three, availability of books in the digital public library ecosystem is limited by digital licensing and the contractual limitations for digital materials. This report: 

• Defines terms related to digital library lending and licensing
• Identifies the current players and processes in the digital public library ecosystem
• Explains how digital licensing and circulation work
• Contextualizes why these matter:
  • Digital book borrowing has increased 34% since 2019, with a 10% growth “postpandemic” between 2021–2022.2
  • Gen Z and millennials don’t understand that digital books provided through services like OverDrive’s Libby app are connected to their local public library. As the book industry competes in an increasingly crowded entertainment marketplace, flexible licensing terms of digital books reduce patron waits, and allow libraries to maximize their digital collections budgets.