Who Says Reading Is A Thing of The Past?
Fairfax County Public Library today announced that they achieved a record-breaking two million digital book checkouts in 2019.
Alexandria, VA – Fairfax County Public Library today announced that they achieved a record-breaking two million digital book checkouts in 2019. This accomplishment illustrates the continued growth and importance of library lending of ebooks and audiobooks along with the creative ways the library has served its community with digital services. Fairfax County Public Library is one of 73 systems around the world – including standalone libraries and consortia – that surpassed one million checkouts through Rakuten OverDrive, the leading digital reading platform and its award-winning app Libby (complete list here).
“FCPL is thrilled to reach 2 million checkouts for our digital library,” said Dianne Coan, Technical Operations Director at Fairfax County Public Library. ”Hitting this milestone is a reflection of both our selection staff’s knowledge of our community and the voracious reading habits of that community! The library has such an amazing and supportive readership who provides feedback and suggestions regularly. We are honored to be among the few libraries in North America to reach this level of use.”
Fairfax County Public Library has been providing readers 24/7 access to ebooks and audiobooks for several years. Reader interest and usage has grown every year, reflecting popular trends and interests both locally and across the country. In 2019, the highest-circulating title across both formats that Fairfax County Public Library readers borrowed through OverDrive was The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. The top-circulating genre, thrillers, represents the most popular in a vast catalog that also includes romance, fantasy and children/young adult.
The top 5 ebook titles borrowed through Fairfax County Public Library’s digital collection in 2019:
1. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
2. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
3. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
4. The Reckoning by John Grisham
5. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
The top 5 audiobook titles borrowed through Fairfax County Public Library’s digital collection in 2019:
1. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson
2. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
3. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
4. Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers
5. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Named one of Popular Mechanics’ 20 Best Apps of the 2010s and one of PCMag’s Best Free Software of 2019, Libby seamlessly connects first-time users and experienced readers with the popular digital collections of libraries. Readers may browse the library’s digital collection, instantly borrow titles and start reading or listening for free with a valid library card.
Readers in Fairfax County just need a valid library card to access digital books from Fairfax County Public Library’s OverDrive-powered digital collection. Readers can use any major device, including iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ and Windows®. With Libby, readers can also “send to Kindle®” devices and apps [US only]. All titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period and there are no late fees. Readers can also download titles onto Libby for offline use.
Visit https://fairfax.overdrive.com/ or download the Libby app to get started and borrow ebooks and audiobooks anytime, anywhere.
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