Our community reads a lot!
In 2024, nearly 1 million digital items were downloaded or streamed through Poudre Libraries’ digital (eMedia) collection. Since 2019, the Library has seen a 51% increase in digital borrows (circulation) while navigating a 99% increase in costs for eBooks and eAudiobooks.
We are committed to ensuring fair and sustainable access to our digital collections – particularly for residents living within the Library District’s official service area – and responsibly managing the rising costs of these items. Therefore, to balance increasing cardholder demand and costs for digital items, Poudre Libraries is updating its digital borrowing limits and digital access library card eligibility.
Our community reads a lot!
In 2024, nearly 1 million digital items were downloaded or streamed through Poudre Libraries’ digital (eMedia) collection. Since 2019, the Library has seen a 51% increase in digital borrows while navigating a 99% increase in costs for eBooks and eAudiobooks.
We are committed to ensuring fair and sustainable access to our digital collections – particularly for residents living within the Library District’s official service area – and responsibly managing the rising costs of these items. Therefore, to balance increasing cardholder demand and costs for digital items, Poudre Libraries is updating its digital borrowing limits and digital access library card eligibility.
Change 1 – New Limits for Digital Borrowing
Starting September 1, 2025, the following changes to digital borrowing will go into effect for all cardholders.
- Libby and OverDrive holds limit will go from 10 to 5.
- Hoopla monthly borrows limit will go from 10 to 7.
What this means for you
Libby and OverDrive
- You won’t lose any of your Libby or OverDrive holds if you have more than 5 holds on September 1, but you won’t be able to place new holds until you’re within the new hold limit.
- The number of items you can borrow in Libby and OverDrive is not changing! You can still get 10 eBooks and/or eAudiobooks at a time.
- Enjoy reduced wait times for popular materials and newer releases.
Hoopla
- You will have fewer items you can borrow per month.
- Hoopla services work on a cost-per-checkout basis, meaning the more they’re used, the more the Library pays. By lowering the number of monthly borrows, we stay within our monthly use budget so more customers can borrow items on the platform.
Change 2 – Changes to Library Card Types
Starting on September 8, 2025, the Library is discontinuing its Flex Card and Digital Access Card and introducing a path for those cardholders to obtain an All-Access Card. These cardholders will have until October 31, 2025, to transition to a new card.
Note: This change only applies to current Flex and Digital Access cardholders. Individuals with an All-Access Card will continue to maintain full access to library collections, resources, and services.
What this means for you
Current Flex or Digital Access cardholders
- You will receive an email with instructions for how to obtain an All-Access Card.
- Visit any library location with a photo ID and proof of Colorado address to get the All-Access Card.
- After October 31, 2025, these cards will no longer have access to digital materials through Poudre Libraries (e.g., via Libby and Hoopla).
We encourage individuals who reside outside of Poudre Libraries’ district service area and are unable to visit a Poudre Libraries location to explore options with your local public library.
Why we’re making these changes
The Library’s digital collections are extremely popular and digital downloads and streaming continues to go up each year, increasing by 51% since 2019.
We’re excited that the digital collection is so popular! And with that increased use comes increased costs from publishers and for additional copies.
The challenge for libraries
Did you know libraries pay more for eBooks and eAudiobooks than consumers?
Libraries can offer checkouts of specific eBook title to one customer at a time (similar to print books). To help lower wait times on a holds list for an eBook, we may purchase multiple copies, just like we do with print materials.
Still, wait times for our most popular titles can be long. The number of holds placed on a book or eBook directly impacts how many copies we purchase. We try to maintain a specific ratio of the number of holds on a title to the number of copies we have purchased, but that isn’t always possible for the most popular titles.
A single copy of an eBook can cost Poudre Libraries over $65 while an eAudiobook can run more than $100. New releases and popular titles may cost even more.
Adding to the cost of digital materials is that libraries don’t “own” digital copies like they do with print books. Publishers only allow libraries to lease/license titles based on either a period of time or total number of checkouts. After the defined amount of time or number of checkouts, we must re-purchase the license (for each copy).
For Hoopla, we must pay-per-use for a title rather than license for an amount of time or number of checkouts. This means that we pay a set fee for every checkout based on the publisher’s price. Poudre Libraries pays up to $2.99 per Hoopla checkout and averages 30,613 of checkouts per month.
Did you know libraries pay more for eBooks and eAudiobooks than consumers?
Libraries can offer checkouts of specific eBook title to one customer at a time (similar to print books). To help lower wait times on a holds list for an eBook, we may purchase multiple copies, just like we do with print materials.
Still, wait times for our most popular titles can be long. The number of holds placed on a book or eBook directly impacts how many copies we purchase. We try to maintain a specific ratio of the number of holds on a title to the number of copies we have purchased, but that isn’t always possible for the most popular titles.
A single copy of an eBook can cost Poudre Libraries over $65 while an eAudiobook can run more than $100. New releases and popular titles may cost even more.
Adding to the cost of digital materials is that libraries don’t “own” digital copies like they do with print books. Publishers only allow libraries to lease/license titles based on either a period of time or total number of checkouts. After the defined amount of time or number of checkouts, we must re-purchase the license (for each copy).
For Hoopla, we must pay-per-use for a title rather than license for an amount of time or number of checkouts. This means that we pay a set fee for every checkout based on the publisher’s price. Poudre Libraries pays up to $2.99 per Hoopla checkout and averages 30,613 of checkouts per month.
What you can do
Small things can help the library save big money!
Manage your to-read list
- Use Libby’s tag feature to keep track of as many titles as you want with custom tags. This helps you keep track of your to-read list rather than placing holds.
Be a good digital neighbor
- Read or listen to a sample in Libby before you place a title on hold to decide if it’s right for you.
- Return your book early when you’re finished so the next person on the wait list can enjoy it.
- If you don’t have time to read a book, suspend your holds or select deliver later so the checkout doesn’t go to waste.
Browse what’s available now
- Skip the line in Libby with Lucky Day titles. Look for the shamrock next to a title in the Libby app – these items are available without wait lists or holds!
- Search for titles in Libby using the “Available Now” filter to view titles ready to check out.
Explore our physical collection at the libraries
- Look for the Here & Now Collection display to grab popular titles (the 7-day borrow period means quicker returns).
- Check our book displays and look for staff recommendations to find something unexpected.
