Together with the Audio Publishers Association (APA), in September 2024 Library Journal and School Library Journal fielded a survey about audiobooks in the United States’ public libraries. Nearly 500 librarian respondents provided insight into audio format demand, budgeting, licensing terms, and selection influences. Survey questions were framed for both adult and youth audio collections.

Consistent with the findings from the previous 2023 survey, digital audio continues to out-circulate physical audio in both youth and adult collections. The split among audio circulation in youth collections is roughly 55 percent digital and 45 percent physical. Adult audio circulation is split 70/30 digital to physical, but there is greater variability in that distribution depending on size of the library’s service area. Libraries serving small populations of 10,000 or less generally saw a 50/50 split in digital and physical audio circulation; that split jumps to 90 percent digital and 10 percent physical audio circulation for libraries serving large populations of 500,000 or more.

Ninety percent of adult selectors reported a significant or moderate increase in digital audio circulation last year, and 70 percent reported a significant or moderate decrease in physical audio circulation. Youth audio circulation looked slightly different, with physical formats seeing some growth (54 percent reported significant or moderate increase in circulation) while digital dropped slightly (41 percent reported significant or moderate decrease in digital audio circulation). For youth collections, physical audio materials such as print books with integrated ready-to-play audio (such as Wonderbooks or Vox Books) and preloaded audiobook players (such as Playaways or Yoto Players) may be the driver behind the growth in physical circulation.

As a share of total library materials budgets, respondents report that audiobooks represent 11.8 percent of adult materials budgets and 8.5 percent of youth collection budgets. When asked to forecast budget allocations over the next year, nearly two-thirds of youth selectors indicated that budgets for audio would stay the same, 22 percent said it would increase, and 13 percent said it would decrease. For adult collections, the share of budget for audio is more mixed: 36 percent expect it to increase, 41 percent expect it to stay the same, and 23 percent expect it to decrease.

Patron requests and professional audiobook reviews remain the two key factors influencing library audiobook purchasing decisions. Additionally, libraries expressed a strong preference for human narrators over AI-generated voices.

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