Manchester City Library

As times have changed, libraries have attempted to keep up with the recently evolving publishing industry to ensure that patrons are able to access desired materials.  Print books are still in high demand, but digital content has quickly followed close behind.

However, despite the growing trend towards e-content, many are not aware of the disparity in prices set for libraries by the top companies in the book industry, who stake the claim to most bestsellers.  “The Big 5” (Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette Book Group) have changed their sales approach to libraries in recent years, dramatically impacting what we’re able to offer, as digital titles are priced well above what online retailers typically charge (Haigh, 2024).

Previously, e-content was priced slightly higher than print books, and libraries could own the license to a digital offering.  But now, the model has been altered to where libraries are required to lease licenses for 24 months, paying a significantly higher amount for e-books & e-audio, sometimes up to 7x that of the print version (Publisher Price Watch, 2024). There are also occasions when we pay for each checkout of a digital title within a set time frame. 

The prices for each of these titles can vary by publisher, author, and format (Storbeck, 2024). This means we pay steeper prices for digital formats.  Furthermore, the Manchester City Library doesn’t get to keep digital copies unless we purchase extremely high-priced perpetual licenses that are not always offered in all formats by the publishers.

Once a license expires, we no longer have access to the title, and are faced with the difficult decision to spend more than our budget allows, or cut back on our digital content.  We unfortunately had to choose the latter last year when we discontinued one of our most popular services.  However, due to a generous donation from one of our patrons, we’re happy to announce that we will be bringing back Hoopla in the coming months with a slightly modified option for borrowing.

Hoopla is known and loved for its “instant borrow” feature, which means no waiting period for you, the patron.  The collection will include Audiobooks, Comics, E-Books, Movies, Music, and television shows as before.  But they have recently introduced another option alongside Instant Borrows that will give us greater access to highly sought-after bestsellers: Flex Borrows.

This new feature offers a limited number of checkouts on titles until their acquisitioned licenses expire.  The caveat, however, is that Flex Borrows follows the “one copy/one user” model, similar to what Libby and cloudLibrary employ.  Much like a physical book, only one user can use a copy at a time, and there will be a holds queue on popular titles.  But we’re adding this option to bring you the bestsellers you want, in the formats you prefer, while continuing to keep a close eye on borrowing trends.

Our re-launch of Hoopla will include Instant Borrows as before, as well as an initial smaller e-book/e-audio offering for Flex Borrows.  The latter will gradually grow larger each month as we carefully curate our collection, offering you a greater variety of current and recent bestsellers.   Hoopla checkouts will be limited to 3 Instant Borrows and 2 Flex Borrows per patron, in order to keep both patron needs and budget constraints in mind (checkout limits will reset on the first of each month, be based on availability, and may be subject to change).  However, you will still have access to hundreds of additional titles through our other existing digital platforms, such as Libby and cloudLibrary, with no new changes.

We hope you’re as excited as we are to bring back this popular service.  We’ll continue to do our best to bring you, the public, a variety of materials that you love, while also monitoring current policies and practices of the publishing industry.  Please continue to show your support by making informed, careful decisions when checking out digital content.  Together, we will continue to responsibly curate a collection of accessible materials that everyone can enjoy.

Haigh, S. (2024, March 12). Libraries Struggle to Afford Demand. Several Seek New State Laws in Fight with Publishers. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/libraries-ebooks-publishers-expensive-laws-5d494dbaee0961eea7eaac384b9f75d2?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share

Publisher Price Watch (2024, April). 2024 Price Update.  Readers First. https://www.readersfirst.org/2024-price-update

Storbeck, K. (2024, April 24). The Real Costs of Digital Content: eBook and Digital Audiobooks. Timberland Regional Library. https://trl.org/blogs/post/the-real-costs-of-digital-content-ebook-and-digital-audiobooks/