Audio 2008: Audio Fixation

If you aren't too busy scanning your own tunes, take a look around the bus or subway and see just how many others are bumping along to an iPod or an MP3 player. What they're listening to is their secret, but the many signature earbuds in sight should give you a real sense of just how pervasive digital audio has become. That popularity is mirrored in library audio services, where audio circulation continues to gain momentum nationwide.

Downloadable music files are making room for audiobooks available through downloading services, and the audio industry hopes that familiarity with the MP3 format will bring more customers into the ranks of audiobook listeners. Nonprint library services now largely involve digital media: users borrow audiobooks on CD, but they also download audiobooks, music, and videos and check out Playaways that have audio programs in a self-contained, battery-powered player. The newly announced industry moves toward MP3, aimed at generating retail sales, will send library audio circulation through the roof in the next few years.

A 2007 sales survey provided by the Audio Publishers Association (APA) highlights the increasing market hunger for aural entertainment and information. In 2006, audiobook sales rose six percent to a record $923 million. Seventy-seven percent of sales was for CDs, a far cry from 45 percent in 2003. Fourteen percent was in downloads, up from nine percent in 2005. Seven percent of sales remains in cassettes, less than half of its 2005 figure, and one percent was in MP3-CDs. Adults account for 87 percent of direct sales. Sales to libraries are growing and are slightly ahead of retail sales, representing 32 percent of sales ($295 million) versus retail's 30 percent. Unabridged audiobooks represent 71 percent of total sales, and fiction represents 69 percent. Sales data for 2007 is being gathered for the 2008 report, and APA plans to do sales surveys annually.

“Libraries are doing an excellent job of making audio more visible to patrons—moving their entire collections to the front of the library, integrating listening into audiobook clubs, trying new formats, and generally encouraging patrons to give audio a try,” says Michele Cobb, library marketing director at BBC Audiobooks America and current president of the APA. “Now is an exciting time for audio, as we reach new listeners and find more ways to integrate multiple elements into the traditional idea of the audiobook.”

Of course, as Richard DiRusso, manager of collection development at the Pima County PL in Tucson, AZ, notes, “The impetus for us to acquire audiobooks is driven by library users. They want and use them at a phenomenal rate, and we're striving to meet their needs.” Pima County, with 25 locations, has standing order plans (SOPs) through several audiobook suppliers (downloadables and ebooks can also be chosen through SOPs).

Indeed, libraries have claimed a pioneering role in terms of exploring alternative formats if only because patron demand (or anticipated demand) warrants it. In 2006, the APA conducted a consumer survey that showed one in every four respondents had listened to an audiobook in the previous year. And over 50 percent of audiobooks listened to were borrowed from a library, up from 38 percent in 2001. Among the consumer respondents, 34.8 percent said they had an iPod or MP3 player—and that was two years ago! Listening averaged nearly five hours a week. APA hopes to do consumer surveys every two years.

“Librarians tell us that audiobooks are still growing every year in terms of circulation and that growth is outpacing most other areas. Our downloadable audio stats continue to increase every month. Perhaps in a down economy people are turning more toward this sort of entertainment and information,” speculates Recorded Books publisher Brian Downing. Although Recorded Books is being sold by its parent company, Haights Cross Communications, it will remain a strong player in the audio market.

At the District of Columbia (DC) Public Library, associate director for collections Michael Ciccone (who recently accepted a position in Hamilton, Ont.) also sees audio circulation starting to rival that of the print collection. The library works with every audio format, including Playaways, and has offered all available downloadable formats since last September—a service that has already doubled in circulation and continues to grow rapidly. Ciccone favors audiobooks over other downloadables such as movies because publishers cover much of what is popular in print.

Ciccone also sees Playaways as more of a bridge between CD and downloadables, adding that downloadables are much easier to work with than tangible items. He anticipates that the digital divide will shrink over time to make downloadables the top choice for patrons and librarians. Ciccone looks forward to solving iPod compatibility issues in the near future (as does everyone else!)—and this year's digital rights management (DRM)–related announcements bring us closer to that much anticipated development (see sidebar “What's on That Disc?”).

Los Angeles Public Library's Giovanna Mannino, assistant director of information technologies and collections, still sees heavy CD circulation. “The demand for audio CDs continues to increase at a rapid rate and has not been diminished in the least by the advent of digital audios.” Nevertheless, she reports, “The downloadable service has been very successful. [It] has expanded our existing audiobook user group—24/7 access to digital audios enables us to extend our services to the homebound, long distance commuters, and others who find it difficult to use the library during open hours.” Patron flexibility is a key component of the digital allure.

Mannino points to a number of additional advantages of downloadable audio: “There is no shipping required. They are instantly available for checkout once the online order is placed. There is no physical processing, no shelving, and no handling, which saves both shelf space and the cost of storage cases. They encourage self-checkout by design. They are never lost and never late. They have no parts to get damaged or go missing. Also, they are not bound by a physical location,” she says.

With downloadables from Recorded Books/NetLibrary (NetLibrary will market Recorded Books' audiobooks through August 2008 and will service library subscriber contracts through August 2009) and OverDrive already available in some larger Georgia libraries, a diverse group mostly from the statewide PINES system is contracting with OverDrive to provide a Georgia Download Destination, starting in early summer and building to about 1000 titles in the first year.

At this point, publishers don't expect downloadables to overtake the CD format for a number of years. Cheryl Herman of Books on Tape/Random House points out that “CDs are—and will—remain the highest circulating format for years to come because the most popular point of listening is in cars, and most cars on the street now have standard CD players. Although some newer cars come with MP3 or iPod capability or adapters, CD is currently the format of choice for the majority of library patrons.”

Jeffrey Gegner, senior librarian and popular materials specialist at Hennepin County Library (HCL), MN, attempts to balance the selection of audiobooks on CD with the two major online services, one from Recorded Books and NetLibrary and the other from OverDrive. HCL merged with Minneapolis Public Library in January, sending the total number of facilities from 26 to 41, with well over a million patrons and circulation in the range of 16 million. His challenges are the challenges of most AV librarians today: to keep up with an ever-increasing catalog of titles available, meet the demands of the public, and find the money to cover all the services the library offers.

Other hurdles include deciding whether a nonfiction title will take off and how to meet the immediate demand for audio versions of print best sellers. There is also the question of how big the audio service should become, as it burgeons into the budgetary/space territory occupied by the print collection.

HCL buys directly from publishers, and, to help stretch the budget, Gegner frequently purchases trade editions of CD audiobooks and repackages them. With trade editions there is no replacement guarantee, but at the Public Library Association (PLA) meeting in Minneapolis in March, vendor Midwest Tape launched a repackaged trade service called Shelf-Ready Audiobooks. Gegner is also looking forward to using OverDrive's download standing order plan (DSOP) and seeing more new material among the music and video titles available.

Despite the inherent difficulties in juggling formats, the downloadable era is in full swing, as is the marketing by both vendors and libraries. To promote digital services in its partner libraries, OverDrive will be crossing the country in its Digital Bookmobile, a self-contained community outreach vehicle. Introduced at PLA, the 69' 18-wheeler is outfitted with a number of computer stations with high-definition monitors and a satellite broadband connection. The rolling lab will provide locally customized interactive orientations to digital content and services in the libraries it visits. Watch for the Digital Bookmobile to come to your area, and keep an eye on library audio, road ready in any form.