By: Jill Grunenwald, Marketing and Communications Specialist

As the nation’s libraries closed their physical branches in March in response to the global pandemic, patrons increasingly turned to the libraries’ digital collection of ebooks and audiobooks

On Wednesday, June 24, 2020, leading librarians Steven V. Potter from Mid-Continent Public Library (MO), Anne Kennedy from State Library of Ohio, and Kady Ferris from Multnomah County Library (OR) joined Karen Estrovich from OverDrive to discuss digital content trends they have seen from COVID-19. This spotlight session was part of ALA Virtual and provided valuable insights on ebook and audiobook usage during this time and provides best practices that libraries can use going forward.

To watch the full session on-demand, visit OverDrive’s Resource Center.

Left to right: Steven V. Potter, Anne Kennedy, Kady Ferris, Karen Estrovich

Here are some of the highlights from that discussion:

  • Trends in awareness of library services during COVID19
  • Data around digital users versus physical users YTD
  • How changing buying patterns — without changing your budget — gets more books into the hands of readers
  • The importance of curating your OverDrive site
  • Using Instant Digital Card (IDC) to gain new users
  • Increased popularity in non-English titles
  • and more!

To learn more, watch the full session today. You will also find the slide deck that you can view on your own.