NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — More people are checking out books without even walking through a library’s doors. E-books make up the majority of Nashville Public Library circulation, but they come with a higher price tag.
Turning the page does not always mean paper anymore; these days, more readers are swiping screens with e-books, which now make up over 70% of the library’s circulation.
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There are many ways to select a book from the shelf. Carly Steed downloads books straight to her Kindle.
“I do prefer e-books,” she told News 2. “Right now, I will reach for a physical book if I want that physical book feel.”
Like the majority of Nashville Library cardholders, she noticed longer waits for popular books online.
“If I were to go on Libby and borrow a book, it would be really nice if I could not have to be added to such a long waitlist,” she said.
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Spokesperson for the Nashville Library, Andrea Fanta, said that current wait times for certain digital copies are roughly 37 days.
“This is actually a really exciting time for the library and for our readers and for the city,” Fanta said. “So we are investing — thanks to Mayor O’Connell and to Metro Council — more than ever in the library collection. We are set to spend, by the end of the calendar year, more than $6 million on new books, new e-books, audiobooks, children’s books, and talking books.”
With those record dollars, librarians are working to invest in popular items like more licensing for e-books, which are typically five times the cost of a print book.
“The costs will vary,” Fanta added. “Typically speaking, the cost of an e-book or an audiobook is much more expensive. You know, those costs are determined by publishers who own the copyright to that digital content. And people need to know that when we purchase an e-book or an audiobook, it’s not a one-time cost. So we’re actually licensing the title and then re-licensing it again.”
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If you are dead set on reading a certain book, sometimes physical copies are available much sooner.
“Have a conversation with an actual library employee,” Fanta said. “Chances are, while you’re waiting for that popular e-book, there’s another genre or another title by that author that we can recommend.”
As over 70% of readers go digital, library leaders said the demand for print is holding steady, too.
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