No Textbook? No Problem: Replacing Costly Materials with OverDrive eBooks and Audiobooks

The academic landscape is in a state of flux. While we’ve long been accustomed to rows of physical textbooks in a physical space, today’s students are digital natives, their lives shaped by instant access to information. This shift has raised a key question: are students reading less, or are they simply reading differently? For faculty and librarians, this can be a call to action. By embracing a digital-first strategy, higher education institutions can not only meet students where they are, but also significantly reduce costs, increase accessibility, and deepen engagement with course materials.

The Data Doesn’t Lie: A New Kind of Reading

Recent years have seen a flurry of articles questioning the future of reading, with headlines like The Chronicle of Higher Education‘s “Is This the End of Reading?” and a Psychology Today piece titled “The End of Reading.” These discussions often cite trends suggesting a decline in reading for pleasure among young people. However, when we look at the data from OverDrive’s academic partners, a different and more encouraging picture emerges. Audiobook checkouts have increased 44.1% per year over the past 5 years across all our academic partners. This striking statistic suggests that students aren’t abandoning reading; they’re just reading differently—digitally. The accessibility of apps like Libby on their personal devices, be it a smartphone or tablet, makes it easier than ever to engage with content on their own terms.

Beyond the Textbook: Enhancing Learning with Alternative Formats

Relying solely on text-based materials misses a huge opportunity to connect with diverse learners. Alternative formats like audiobooks, films, and graphic novels are not just supplementary; they can be core components of a dynamic curriculum.

• Deeper Comprehension and Accessibility: For students with dyslexia or other reading difficulties, audiobooks offer a pathway to engagement. But the benefits extend to everyone. One study found “virtually no difference in overall comprehension” between a book that was listened to or read. Furthermore, research in the Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior suggests that when we listen to a story, our visual processing centers are freed up to create more vivid imagery, potentially leading to a richer understanding of the content.
• Subject-Specific Innovation: Certain subjects are a natural fit for non-traditional formats. Films and audiobooks can bring the humanities and social sciences to life, offering a dynamic way to experience historical events or literary works. Likewise, graphic novels can provide a powerful medium for Art and Visual Art courses.

Case Studies and Practical Strategies for Going Digital

So, how can institutions make the leap? The answer is to start small and strategically.

• Pilot Programs: For institutions that are hesitant to go all-in, a targeted pilot program is the perfect starting point. Focusing on multi-user lending models like OverDrive Max ensures that a single purchase can benefit an entire class and maximize the impact of every dollar spent.
• Case Study: Alabama State University: The Levi Watkins Learning Center at Alabama State University (ASU) offers a perfect example of this in action. The library launched its OverDrive service in September 2019, with the pandemic acting as a motivator to accelerate its use. Now, subject specialist librarians work directly with faculty across 29 academic departments to curate collections. By using thematic promotions, they successfully build collections that serve a wide range of academic needs while also providing a popular fiction catalog without needing to expand their physical footprint.
• Real-World Example: Erasmus University Rotterdam: The digital shift is also happening around the globe. Erasmus University Rotterdam made headlines by becoming the first university in the Netherlands to offer OverDrive’s digital service for students. By providing easy access to digital leisure reading, the university recognized the importance of meeting students where they are and fostering a culture of reading that extends beyond required coursework. This kind of forward-thinking approach is a blueprint for others.

The Role of the Librarian: Guiding the Digital Collection

In this new landscape, the academic library and its staff librarians are more vital than ever. They are the experts who can track format trends using marketplace data reporting and build collections based on what students are actually using. By actively soliciting and listening to student feedback, librarians can ensure that collections grow in ways that are truly valuable.

Faculty also have a key role to play. By creating curated digital collections that feature a mix of formats—from ebooks to audiobooks—and sharing direct links or QR codes, they can make course materials instantly accessible. Integrating these materials into first-year seminars or introductory classes can help students discover the digital library from day one, making it a natural part of their academic workflow.

The future of reading in higher education isn’t about one format winning over another; it’s about providing a mix of formats to allow for choice and accessibility. The goal is to build a modern library that serves the modern student, a place where the next great idea can be discovered, whether it’s through the page of a physical book or the sound of a voice on an audiobook. With the right tools and strategies, institutions can empower both students and educators for success.