Digital E-Book and Audio Book Lending Breaking Records in Fairfax County
FAIRFAX, Va. – January 12, 2021 – Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) announced recently that it reached a record-breaking two million digital book checkouts in 2020. This number illustrates the continued growth and importance of library digital lending of e-books and e-audiobooks, especially in a year with building closures due to the global pandemic. FCPL is one of 102 public library systems worldwide that surpassed one million checkouts (complete list here).
Fairfax County Public Library has been providing readers 24/7 access to e-books and e-audiobooks for several years through OverDrive and its award-winning Libby reading app. Reader interest and usage has grown every year.
“We are excited to reach this milestone and see the continued success of our e-books and e-audiobooks,” said Dianne Coan, Division Director for Support Services at Fairfax County Public Library. “E-books are more important than ever this year as library closures and other pandemic precautions made it difficult for many county residents to access reading material. We have been able to offer our customers a valuable lifeline to information and diversion during these challenging times.”
The highest-circulating title FCPL readers borrowed through OverDrive in 2020 was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. The top-circulating genre, thrillers, represents the most popular in a vast catalog that also includes romance, biographies and children/young adult.
The top 5 e-book titles borrowed through Fairfax County Public Library’s digital collection in 2020:
1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
2. White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
3. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
4. Educated by Tara Westover
5. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
The top 5 audiobook titles borrowed through Fairfax County Public Library’s digital collection in 2020:
1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
3. So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
4. Educated by Tara Westover
5. Becoming by Michelle Obama
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 Apple(R), Android™, Chromebook™ and Kindle(R) (US only). Visit https://fairfax.overdrive.com/ or download the Libby app to get started and borrow e-books and e-audiobooks anytime, anywhere.
About Fairfax County Public Library
Fairfax County Public Library is the largest public library in the state of Virginia, with 23 branch locations serving over 1.2 million residents. FCPL builds community and promotes literacy through programming, technologies, and collections of educational and recreational resources..
RELATED: Alexandria Library Offers Online Resource Tool EZProxy
