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Libraries see big increase in digital check-outs, but physical books hold appeal RICHARD DUCKET T
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Executive director Jason Homer shows off renovations to the children’s floor at the Worcester Public Library. The ceiling will replicate the sky and change to resemble day and night throughout the course of the day. ASHLEY GREEN
the Libby app or the OverDrive app, in browsers, on ereaders or MP3 players, or on Kindle devices. “A lot more people are using it on phones, tablets,” Lundgren said of the app. Books can be borrowed for 7, 14 or 21 days. The default is 14 days. ‘When they expire they basically disappear from your device,” Lundgren said. “No fines, nothing’s ever due.” Readers in Central and Western Massachusetts just need a valid library card from a CW MARS member library to access digital books from CW MARS’s OverDrive-powered digital collection. The digital numbers might conjure up thoughts of days ahead when there will be no physical libraries, just people borrowing books via their phones. But the print check-out num-
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the exponential rise of 2020. Member libraries with the highest amount of digital book checkouts besides Worcester included Shrewsbury Public Library, Jones Library (Amherst), Forbes Library (Northampton), Springfield Public Library, Hopkinton Public Library, Marlborough Public Library, Westborough Public Library, Westfield Athenaeum and Berkshire Athenaeum (Pittsfield). The highest-circulating title CW MARS readers borrowed through OverDrive in 2020 was “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens. According to OverDrive, it offers a growing collection of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and streaming videos. Libraries can build their individual digital collection from its catalog of millions of titles from over 30,000 publishers. Books can be borrowed through
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Nevertheless, “I don’t think that online is going away.” CW MARS member libraries have been providing readers 24/7 access to ebooks and audiobooks since 2009 through OverDrive and its Libby reading app. OverDrive Inc. is an American digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, magazines and streaming video titles that provides secure management, digital rights management, and download fulfillment services for publishers, libraries, schools, corporations and retailers. It charges libraries through leasing and licensing deals. Reader interest and usage of digital books has grown every year, Lundgren said. It was a little slow at first. “It took us nine years to hit one million,” she said. But 2018 and 2019 were good years for digital check-outs prior to
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t’s an interesting reading item. According to CW MARS, a library consortium whose members consist of many local area libraries including the Worcester Public Library, there was an increase of 34% in checkouts on digital content in member libraries in 2020 over 2019. In total, there were 1.808 million checkouts on electronic content during 2020. “We were really pleased to see the usage. 2020 was our highest (digital) check-out ever — 461,000 more,” said Jeanette Lundgren, executive director of CW MARS, which is at 67 Millbrook St. CW Mars, standing for Central and Western Massachusetts Resource Sharing, was founded in 1982 to assist member libraries, now numbering more than 150 large and small, with sharing of resources and an array of support that has become increasingly technical, including hosting and supporting the hardware and software needed to power its shared online library catalog and library staff software. The Worcester Public Library is “our number one user with the highest number number of checkouts in the (2020) calendar year,” Lundgren said. But there’s a page turner (or “click next”) in the numbers. While physical circulation in 2020 was down 54% from 2019 — probably largely accountable to the pandemic — the number of physical books checked out was 5.3 million. “The year before it was over 11 million,” Lundgren said. On the other hand, 5.3 million is more than 1.808 million. The Worcester Public Library itself saw similar numbers, said Jason L. Homer, the library’s new executive director. Given the times the library has been closed during the pandemic, “our print collection held pretty strong,” Homer said.
bers say not so fast, not to mention the millions of dollars of work on renovations at the main branch of the Worcester Public Library at 3 Salem St.. “The new normal remains to be seen,” Lundgren said. “Our print material check-outs are still materially higher than digital check-outs, but we have seen (digital) go up every year. There are a lot of patrons who prefer reading in physical book format. I don’t think that will change.” Lundgren said that digital check-outs will continue to be favored by people with distance and disability issues, among many others. And digital lending has shown its value in a year hit hard by a global pandemic. Homer came on board as the Worcester Public Library’s new executive director Dec. 7. He had previously served as director of the Morse Institute Library, a public library in Natick. “I’m very happy to be here, which is like a dream job,” he said. The main library and its branches had been closed in March, April and May due to the pandemic. The main library then reopened (with branches offering holds pickup) but closed again shortly after Christmas for a few weeks because of the increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases in Worcester. The main library reopened again Feb. 1 (with branches again providing holds pick up) providing limited services including appointments for computer use, printing, copying and faxing. The library was beginning with having six computers (out of a possible 20) in use at any one time, Homer said. “To get started and keep our fingers on the pulse.” Some people might use the computers for entertainment, while others are seeking jobs, he noted. When the pandemic first hit, one concern was “could we still lend books” with the coronavirus and “could it be spread from person to person?” Homer said. (Books in
