Little Miss Crabby Pants Explains Why Your Library's eBook Collection Sucks

Folks, I tried. I normally do my level best to keep Little Miss Crabby Pants chained up in that dark corner of my brain, but like a moron I've been spending too much time library doom-scrolling on Threads. Yes, this rant is brought to you by social media, as most rants are. 

Because the algorithm loves to keep us cranky and angry, I get pushed a lot of library-related content on Threads, which makes sense given that I, myself, am a librarian. Unfortunately, given my years of experience (27 years) and that I'm on the younger side of Gen X (1965-1980), it also means I hit my Cranky Sea Hag Era in the profession about five years ago and I'm still a decade plus away from retirement. Yes, it's happened. I am officially The Battle Ax Librarian. I'm still nice to Library Kids, but it's probably a good thing they've got me locked up in administration now. 

It's not unusual to putz around on Threads and see people asking questions about Libby or Hoopla, both library digital lending services, and most of these questions revolve around "Where Can I Get More Library Cards To Get More Check-outs, Titles, Shorter Waitlists etc."  First, I want to preface this by saying people should absolutely get library cards from where ever they are entitled.  Many libraries have reciprocal borrowing agreements that allow people to get cards in neighboring jurisdictions.  Also some libraries (the completely insane ones, IMHO - more on that in a minute) will allow folks to pay a yearly fee for an out of resident card.  The reason why people are asking these questions is usually prefaced by OMG I'M #659 IN LINE FOR YESTERYEAR!!!!!! WHY WON'T THE LIBRARY JUST BUY MORE COPIES?!?!?!?!? While I'm at it why aren't public libraries open 24 hours with cute cafes in them where I can buy coffee and a muffin?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Now there are some folks on Threads who have way more patience than I do and will calmly explain to these folks, whereas I have to sit on my hands and stop myself from screaming at my phone.  But hey, I still have the stone tablet equivalent of Internet communication - A BLOG! So folks, I am now word vomiting my feelings here so it can be my "Don't Make Me Tap the Sign Again" when I see this type of discourse on social media.  Buckle up kiddies, Auntie Wendy is going to give you some hard truths.

OverDrive holds the marketshare on public library eBook and digital audiobook lending in the United States. Their app is called Libby. Not every book under the sun is on Libby because libraries have to purchase the content that goes in their collection. So if you don't see Book X in your Libby app? Your library hasn't purchased it for whatever reason - oh let's be honest, we didn't purchase it because our budgets stink.  Anyway, that's lesson number 1. Lesson number 2 is that while Authors Guild is complaining that "free library lending" is undercutting author's pay (no, it's not) and there's "no more friction because people don't have to visit physical library buildings anymore" (apparently 6 month wait lists aren't friction - sure Jan), the fact of the matter is public libraries are being price gouged into oblivion by publishers.  Here's a quick example:

Ironwood by Michael Connelly (2026)

Retail Amazon eBook $14.99

Retail Audible Audiobook $19.68

Library eBook $75.00 for 24 months

Library Audiobook $88.99 for 24 months

Amazon Print Copy $14.99

Library Print Copy $17.28 (discounts vary by library / contract, this is my library's discount) 

Yes, that's right - libraries are paying that price for one copy, that can be checked out by one user at a time, for just 24 months. After 24 months the license expires and we have to repurchase.  Do we get a cost break when purchasing a license for a second time?  Ha ha ha ha! Oh, you sweet summer child - no.

But Little Miss Crabby Pants, that's a new book! What about an older title?  So glad you asked... 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson (2008)

Retail Amazon eBook $6.99

Retail Audible Audiobook $19.69

Library eBook $27.50 for 12 months or $55.00 for 24 months

Library Audiobook $95.00 for perpetual license (no expiration date) or $47.50 for 12 months

Amazon Print Copy $8.29

Library Print Copy $11.21

Let's do some math. If we want to keep the holds list at a manageable 5 holds for every 1 copy and there are 500 holds on Ironwood in eBook format - the library would need 100 copies, which will cost us $7,500 for licenses that will expire in 24 months. Oh, and by the way, y'all expect to go into library buildings and have staff there to help you, not see empty shelves, and not see books falling apart in need of replacing.  Oh, and you expect libraries to actually be open.  Newsflash, all this costs money. Seriously, I don't get enough credit for not screaming at people on Threads. 

Well, OK that stinks, but I'm a Hoopla user and I'm annoyed that I'm only allowed X number of check-outs every month. Surely libraries can do better than that!  Oh, you sweet summer child, you would be wrong. Let Little Miss Crabby Pants educate you.

When Hoopla came into being it was a streaming movie platform only. A bunch of libraries signed on because they were first out of the gate with streaming movie content for libraries and this was back in the days when Netflix was the shiny new thing on the consumer market for streaming. Over time Hoopla added more modules to their platform including music, eBooks, audiobooks, and comics. What they did not do is offer libraries an option to opt out of modules. If you were a Hoopla library who got access to it all modules whether you wanted them or not. 

The great thing about Hoopla is that most of what's available on the platform is instant access (some libraries also purchase content for Hoopla like Libby, but for the sake of this post I'm just going to focus on instant access).  This means there are no wait lists for users. Also the library doesn't pay for the content until someone checks it out. Cost per check-out on Hoopla ranges anywhere from under $1 and caps at $3.99. This can be good for libraries because a lot of what's in the Hoopla catalog may only check-out once (if even that....) and it makes sense to pay $2.99 for an eBook just one person is interested in than the cost of a metered access (24-months) license with Libby.  

Hoopla negotiates with content providers to make titles available on the platform and the library gets what it gets. These contracts mean that some publishers have an embargo in place (for example that new eBook title might not be available on Hoopla until after 6 months from publication date) and some publishers won't do business with Hoopla at all (there are no Penguin Random House titles available using the instant access model). The reason for this is Hoopla caps the cost-per-check-out price at $3.99.  They'd offer movies from the Marvel universe if the studio was willing to cap the price at $3.99, but they aren't - so that's why that thing you want might not be on Hoopla.

This sounds like a great deal, right? Wrong. It's very hard for libraries to manage costs with Hoopla. Basically the more we promote it, the more people use it, the more it costs libraries. And newsflash, library collection budgets have either remained stagnant for decades (as it's become expected for us to purchase more and more formats....) or we've actually lost money - either physically or just through the simple math of inflation. So libraries that offer Hoopla look for ways to curtail the spending so they can actually keep on track with their budget. They will limit the number of monthly check-outs or they will cap the number of check-outs each day, turning some users away and telling them to "try again tomorrow." The intractability of the company to allow public libraries to go to an a la carte model with the modules frustrates me no end. I oversee a Hoopla budget and in the past year we cut down our number of check-outs from 8 to 5. That said the monthly invoices are still 6-figures. Audiobooks make up roughly 60% of our check-outs every month. Wouldn't it make sense to jettison the less popular modules in favor of keeping the ones our customers are most interested in?  It would. But so far the company has been unmoved.  Another way libraries are curtailing Hoopla costs?  They've stopped offering it entirely. I've lost track of how many libraries have dropped Hoopla in the last year - a simple Google search on "hoopla ending" or "discontinue hoopla" will boggle your mind.

Which brings us back to a couple of points Little Miss Crabby Pants wants to drive home. No, Authors Guild, "free" library books is not the reason why authors can't make a living anymore. Sales were actually up last year (2025) but profits were down. What does that tell us?  Inflation is biting you in the ass just like it is your consumer base. That consumer base, even if they are highly educated and making a decent living, are still looking for ways to be frugal while paying higher prices in housing, groceries, energy, taxes and at the gas pump. So they're buying fewer books, waiting for sales, reading through their TBRs, willing to sit on a long library wait list or, just not read that book at all. 

And here's another newsflash - without libraries authors would sell a lot fewer books. A contributing factor on why author's are making less? Libraries are buying less (oh the irony, it burns) I'm sorry this Publisher's Weekly article is currently paywalled, but here's the salient point:

Sales through intermediates—largely wholesalers—fell 2.4% after dropping by just over 11% in both 2023 and 2024. The three-year drop is likely due to slower sales to libraries and, especially last year, trouble at Baker & Taylor, which went out of business at the end of 2025.

Baker & Taylor existed for 200 years and, at one point, held roughly 50% of the market share. As a librarian who had done business with B&T for my entire 27 year career I can tell you it was a few years of them circling the drain before they went out of business.  There were certain publishers who stopped providing them inventory unless they were paid upfront (you can't blame publishers here - B&T wasn't paying their bills) and libraries, by and large, aren't going to pay an invoice for something they haven't ordered or received yet. This led to delayed and sluggish sales and longer wait times for library customers. Now factor in shrinking library budgets due to loss of funds and/or inflation and if I was an author I would think about hitting the panic button now. 

But Sure Jan, "free library books" is why authors aren't making a living anymore and it has nothing to do with inflationary costs, libraries buying less or the fact there's been a 40% decline in reading for pleasure over a 20 year period. Look, librarians got enough problems right now, we don't need Authors Guild telling us "we're the problem." We might start to take it personally. 

So yes, this is why your library eBook collection sucks and this is why you're waiting 6 months for that hot bestseller in eBook or downloadable audiobook.

If you take nothing else away from this post, please take away this. Just take 25% of the energy you're using to snap up library cards like Pokémon and talk to your local library about their budget constraints and needs. Then take that information and contact your elected officials. Librarians scream from the hilltop all the time about our budgets. We back up that screaming with data and impact outcomes. Electeds are more likely to listen to constituents who go to the ballot box than librarians. Will this help? Maybe not in the immediate. There's waste, graft and corruption to fight through but if enough people mobilize on a grass roots level, if enough people agitate for change, just maybe we'll see some change. Because, fun fact, you hold the keys to them having a job. If the public library is important in your life, try doing something more about it than whining on Threads that you have to wait 6 months for a eBook copy of Yesteryear.