The year 2020 saw record levels of digital book circulation worldwide, according to OverDrive, one of AAPLDs digital material providers. Check-outs of ebooks, downloadable audiobooks and digital magazines, from both public libraries and schools, grew by 33% over 2019.
The Covid-19 pandemic is the primary reason for the growth, as more patrons discover how to use their Smartphones, computers and e-reading devices to safely access materials from home. But social justice protests and the Trump presidency had an influence on what patrons were reading, particularly when it came to non-fiction.
Top 10 Fiction Ebooks & Audiobooks (Released in 2020) from Public Libraries Worldwide in 2020
- Walk the Wire by David Baldacci
- Camino Winds by John Grisham
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
- The Guest List by Lucy Foley
- The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
- The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
- American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
- In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
- Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
- Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
Top 10 Nonfiction Ebooks & Audiobooks (Released in 2020) from Public Libraries Worldwide in 2020
- Untamed by Glennon Doyle
- The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
- Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump
- Open Book by Jessica Simpson
- Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
- The Room Where It Happened by John Bolton
- Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
- A Very Stable Genius by Philip Rucker
- Wow, No Thank You. by Samantha Irby
Ready to learn how to download ebooks, magazines and newspapers onto your device and use the library from the comfort of your home? AAPLD’s Kenny Duray will hold a virtual class, Your Library at Home on Monday, Jan. 11, at 7:00 p.m., and Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 10:00 a.m. Click your preferred time to register!