What’s Current

Behind the Stacks THE DIGITAL EDITION

“YES, WE HAVE COPIES of that book but they’re all checked out. Can I put you on the waiting list?” is something you may have heard at the library if you crave new and buzzworthy reading material. And that makes sense, right? We have a finite number of physical books and there are always titles where the demand exceeds the supply. So why do the same rules apply to electronic books (e-books) and audiobooks (e-audio)?

Odd though it may seem, the copies we purchase from publishers are good for one user only, the same way that only one person can have a print book checked out at a time.

Forsyth County Public Library is part of the North Carolina Digital Library consortium. That means we can buy digital materials at a discount along with other member libraries, but the trade off is that we can’t always get exactly what our customers want.

When a book is popular, we do our best to purchase more copies so that our customers won’t have long waits to read a book. As you might expect, we have a limited budget to purchase these items, so sometimes we have to pick and choose. Sometimes another library system will step in and buy a copy for everyone, and sometimes we do that too.

Most publishers don’t allow libraries to purchase unlimited access to a title. We may have to re-purchase items every one or two years because the time limit for use set by the publisher has run out. That’s why you might see an item available but you’re unable to check it out — another copy of the title with more time needs to be purchased before anyone can check it out.

So, we try to get the newest titles from best-selling authors, in addition to those of new authors generating lots of buzz. We purchase more fiction than nonfiction, just like we do in the physical library, and most of our selection criteria is the same too. Is there demand for the title? Is it well-reviewed? Do we need more titles in a particular subject area? Have several people requested it? Are we missing books in a series? Is our collection representative of our whole community? These are some of the things librarians consider when deciding what titles to buy. And finally... is it on sale? It’s true, sometimes digital items go on sale and librarians do love a good sale.

Do you have a specific print or digital item that you’d like for us to purchase? If so, please feel free to suggest a purchase by visiting tinyurl. com/fcplsuggestabook. I| S

— JAMIE STROBLE, audiovisual

librarian

Digital FAQs

How much do digital items cost the library?

E-books: $10 - $85 each E-audio: $35 - $100 each

How many digital items are currently in the collection?

72,555 e-books and 22,824 e-audio

What are the most checked-out e-book and e-audio for adults?

E-audio: “Becoming” by Michelle Obama* E-book: “Walk the Wire” by David Baldacci*

*Between March 2020 and March 2021