Image – Getty: Kerkez
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
See also:
AI-Voiced Audiobooks: Guidance for Consumer Labeling
AAP’s October StatShot: Digital Audio Accounts for 15 Percent of Adult Book Sales
A 9.2-Percent Year-over-Year Increase in Digital Audio Spending
Released today (January 14) to members of the news media, a 90-page 2024 survey of United States public libraries indicates that for a second year, digital audiobooks are dominating circulation in those libraries, both for adult and younger patrons.
The study was conducted by Library Journal and School Library Journal in partnership with the Audio Publishers Association led by executive director Michele Cobb.
Conducted in September and October 2024, the survey drew responses from 486 library professionals involved in audiobook selection and purchasing in the States.
Related article: AAP’s October StatShot: The US Book Market Was Up 8.3 Percent. Image – Getty: Edichen Photo
And the robust numbers seen in this research relative to audiobooks’ performance in library circulation coincides with similar dynamics seen in the October 2024 StatShot report from the Association of American Publishers.
- In the StatShot material gathered from across the US industry in the same time period as the library-oriented data was being collected for this new report, digital audio in the United States saw an 18.7-percent jump, coming in at $86.5 million in revenue—large, even for this long-buoyant format sector in the States’ market.
- In fact, in year-to-date figures, US digital audio sales were up 26.1 percent in those first 10 months of 2024, accounting for US$883.4 million in revenue.
- This placed digital audio into a spot representing a 15-percent share of the adult book market between January and October of 2024.
Top-Line Data From the Library Survey
‘Audiobooks and Public Libraries’ cover artwork. Image: Audio Publishers Association
Among highlighted points developed by the data produced:
- Digital audiobooks accounted for 70 percent of adult audio circulation and 56 percent of youth audio circulation in libraries queried in the time frame of the survey
- Circulation patterns showed significant variation according to community size: In smaller communities of fewer than 10,000 residents, physical and digital audio circulation were split evenly, 50 percent going to each. In larger communities of more than 500,000 residents, digital audiobooks made up 90 percent of circulation, with physical formats at just 10 percent
- Respondents reported a 9.2-percent year-over-year increase in spending on digital audio materials for adult collections
- Despite the dominance of digital formats, respondents indicated a 9.75-percent year-over-year increase in spending on physical audio materials for youth; this growth is thought by researchers to be driven by the increasing popularity of integrated print-and-audio products like Vox Books and Wonderbooks, as well as preloaded audiobook players such as Playaway
- Professional reviews and patron requests remain the top drivers for audiobook selection in libraries
- In addition, libraries studied tended to prioritize narrator (reader) quality when selecting audiobooks, with a strong preference for human readers over AI-generated voices
More points that stand out in the report, some of them quite helpful in understanding the new report.
“Libraries, the report’s authors write, tend to be having “increasing difficulties buying new titles on physical media, hastening the shift to digital audiobook,” the report’s authors write. “Just as public libraries have been reducing their print book collections, so, too, are they starting to consider reducing their physical audiobook collections.”
“Audiobooks account for, on average, less than 20 percent of their overall materials budgets. More spending is being allotted to digital than physical audiobooks.”
At times a source of tension between libraries and publishers, “Libraries struggle with the various access models, although for now they seem generally content with simultaneous-use models for new titles and one-copy/one-user for backlist or older titles.”
“Only libraries serving large populations have audiobooks in languages other than English.”
Related article: ‘AI-Voiced Audiobooks: Guidance for Consumer Labeling.’ Image- Getty: Jakob Berg
“Libraries are vehement in their opposition to non-human, AI readings,” the report’s results indicate. As newly developed labeling guidance for audiobooks produced with automated voices becomes more prevalent, however, it will be interesting to see if resistance to machine-read material lessens.
In terms of what adult US library patrons are checking out in audiobook formats in fiction, the study’s research indicates that thrillers and suspense; general fiction; and mysteries led the way at 23 percent, 20 percent, and 20 percent, respectively. Romance, which some may have expected to be higher among the genres, was at 15 percent. Among other genres registering at least 1 percent, science-fiction was at the bottom at just that single percentage.
In nonfiction, the research showed at the time of the study biographies leading in popularity at 25 percent among adults, followed by history at 15 percent, and self-help at 12 percent.
Notes on Size of Populations Served
This chart, from the survey is instructive, answering a question from researchers that read, “Would you say your audiobook collection particularly supports any of the following patrons?” For example, note that in the largest library-service populations of 500,000 or more, fully 75 percent said their patrons’ use of digital audiobooks supported English-language learners, and 54 percent said they supported listeners in languages other than English.
Parsed in terms of respondents by size of population served:
Image: ‘Audiobooks and Public Libraries 2024 Audiobook Survey Report’
And also interesting in relation to size of populations served among various libraries, availability of an audiobook title was found in the research to be more a factor for library patrons in larger populations. In smaller populations, the subject or genre of an audiobook seemed to be more a driver, as seen in this chart, the question having been, “What do you think patrons care about most when selecting an audiobook?”
Image: ‘Audiobooks and Public Libraries 2024 Audiobook Survey Report’
More from Publishing Perspectives on audiobooks is here, more on the Audio Publishers Association is here, more on industry statistics is here, more on the United States’ market is here, and more on digital publishing is here.
