Some wonderful news has recently come about concerning libraries.  This data was released by Library Journal and American Library Association (ALA) materials survey in March of 2019.  Library Journal is the largest periodical for the library market, and the American Library Association is a nonprofit organization that’s based in the United States which promotes libraries and education internationally. 

These two organizations have been putting out their material survey once a year for 19 years.  To build this survey, they ask libraries to report things like the amount of foot traffic they are getting and information about their budgets.  The organizations also gather data from various US Government information and lots of other sources.  This is an enormous report, but I have broken down some of those numbers in order to share as much as I could with you today.

According to the survey, and research done by the ALA, libraries within the US have had more foot traffic. In fact, it has gone up almost 20%.  That means the number of patrons which actually walk into libraries, checking out books and utilizing their services has increased dramatically between 2015 and 2018.  The 2018 trend continued in their budget.  Libraries of all sizes have reported an overall increase in funding or operations, materials, and personnel budgets.

And according to the US Census, libraries are growing online as well! 

More librarians are being hired, and they are being given higher salaries.  The material budges have increased as well.  Check out this statement from LIBRARY JOURNAL:

“Total operating budgets averaged $7,046,700, a rise of 3.5%, compared with 2017, though different libraries report each year, making such comparisons subject to variations in the sample. This bested both last year’s 2.8% and 2016’s 3.4% gains. Slightly fewer libraries saw their operating budgets grow—76%, down from last year’s 77%—but those that did saw a larger increase.Not only have budgets gone up between, but they’ve been rising each year.  The previous year showed a 3.5% increase over 2015, which showed a 2.8% increase over the year before that.“   Source: http://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=More-Service-Than-Circ

If you are in New York or Los Angeles, your library system’s annual budget is over $35 million.  They get this money in every year to spend on materials, and most of that goes for books.  Now, for those of you who are curious about what kinds of books library systems are buying, let’s take a look at some of the facts according to the study:

More people are visiting libraries, but physical check outs for print books are down.

When it came to book and media circulation, the total average of 1,203,800 was down more than 100,000 items from the previous year. Numbers were highest in Midwest and suburban libraries, with about ten to 11 circulated items per person. But spending on materials was up. 

So what is the deal?

There are a number of possible explanations, including a rise in usage of e-materials that may not be counted side-by-side with physical materials; ­ebooks that are part of vendor packages may also be considered database materials when circulation is assessed. And materials lent by other libraries under consortial agreements are not rolled into the borrowing library’s ILS statistics.

Again let’s look at LIBRARY JOURNAL’S take on this:

“Although recent studies have focused on the question of whether library lending has cut into ebook sales, the reverse may also be true: patrons accustomed to the ease and relatively low cost of online ebook purchasing and instantaneous delivery may bypass long holds lists on popular new releases for the immediacy of one-click ordering—particularly if a library’s budget can’t keep pace with the demand for best sellers. “It’s so convenient and cheap now to order off Amazon,” explains Jones, “when somebody wants to read a new book, we’ll have a hold list of 700 people. Some will wait; a lot of people will just buy it themselves.”

The best selling genres right now are broken out by eBooks and print books.  When it comes to grown-up books, the top non-fiction categories are:

These are the top adult categories for both print books and eBooks.  Now, if your book doesn’t fit into these categories, don’t get discouraged.  These statistics don’t mean that your book doesn’t belong in a library.  This data just shows where the most interest is.  As you are looking over this data, you may notice that the Biography/Memoir category is listed second, but take note that this became the #1 selling category in 2017.  It barely took first place, but it did take the lead for the first time in many years.

Also, please don’t say to yourself, “Well, I have a cookbook, so I can’t do an eBook.”  That’s not true.  Cookbooks was the #1 category in 2018 for eBooks.  Cookbooks are huge! 

Okay, so now let’s talk about fiction categories for adult books.  The top fiction categories have actually stayed the same over the last few years, and they are:

Again, if you’ve written a western, you still belong in libraries.  These are just the top categories.  In the print world, thrillers have edged out romance for the first time in years.  There was a lot of moving and shaking going on in 2017 in terms of genres. 

For those of you who are children’s book authors, the same survey showed that of materials and material budgets, over half of the money spent on books in the United States is spent on children’s books.  So, if you are a children’s book author, you are in great shape.  Librarians still dramatically prefer hard cover in the children’s book world, but that’s not the case with grown-up books. 

Whether you look into the survey data, or just ask the librarian down the street, you’ll find that libraries don’t have the money to spend on hard cover books that they used to.  Also, keep in mind that years ago, paperback books weren’t as sturdy as they are now.  We’ve come a long way in technology over the past 20 years, and nowadays, paperback books last much longer.  Libraries have no problem buying paperback books anymore.

As I have previously stated, hardcover children’s books are still the most in demand, and preferably without a jacket.  That’s just one more detail to take note of.  The money is there for children’s books, so you might as well take advantage of this news if you are a children’s book author and try to get your books into libraries.

These stats are really great, but what you really want to know is whether or not print on demand (POD) books, eBooks, and self-published books can get into the library market.  If you are reviewing this material, it’s pretty likely that you are self-published or independently published.  You’ve done it all yourself, and you’d like to know where you stand.  Well, the answer is “yes,” you absolutely have just as much of a shot at getting into these library systems as anyone else. 

How do I know this?  I spend half my day, every day, talking to libraries, and I know, for a fact, that they buy small press, independently published, and self-published books all the time. 

If you are interested in watching a full overview that teaches how the best ways to get your books into libraries, you can go to http://.realfastlibrarymarketing.com The video offered there will walk you through the entire process!

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