"If you’re someone who frequents a North Carolina public library — especially in an urban area like Raleigh or Charlotte — you might be all too familiar with searching the catalog for a buzzy book, only to find the waitlist is hundreds, if not thousands, of people long.
Local library employees say the entire country faces this issue, but North Carolina’s booming population and the growing number of library patrons in the state make it especially challenging.
Even worse than the waitlist for physical copies is the one for e-book and audiobook versions. E-content has unique barriers, including costing libraries up to three times the price of a physical book, that make it difficult to keep up with the heightened demand...
With around 66 people moving into Wake County per day, the libraries subsequently have new patrons coming in to register for a library card every single day, Brooks said. This heightened demand can be noticed most by the surge in e-content checkouts...
‘Disappearing, limited-access content’
Demand for digital items has steadily risen, especially since the pandemic, Escalante wrote. The challenge for keeping e-content available consistently is “always going to be the increasing cost of digital licenses.”
The ULC and other national library organizations recently spoke out about the strain the licensing process and cost of e-content is putting on local branches. An open letter to book publishers says while individuals pay $13 for an e-book on average, which they maintain access to in perpetuity, libraries often spend upwards of $55 for a singular two-year license.
“Many libraries are now spending 50% or more of their collections budgets — taxpayer funds — on disappearing, limited-access content, giving them less ability to support lesser-known authors and smaller publishers,” the statement reads.
“Meanwhile, wait times for readers of all ages have exploded, as libraries spend more to get less in our digital collection.”"
