Audiobooks are popular, but librarians must navigate multiple options - and tighter budgets Audiobooks are more popular than ever, owing in part to publishers' practice of releasing audio versions simultaneously with book releases. LJ's recent audiobook survey shows that circulation for adult audiobooks has jumped 13.5% in two years, while the figure for children's audiobooks has risen 10.7%. Budgets for adult audiobooks went up 6.1% this year, while budgets for children's audiobooks rose 4.8%. Audiobook spending, however, remains stable when seen in the context of overall media spending. Audiobooks represent 38% of library media budgets. However, the overall fiscal picture libraries face has impacted audiobooks, and those surveyed expect their budgets for audio to increase only 2% in the next fiscal year. There's clearly demand; in a separate survey of 250 libraries, conducted by Recorded Books, 56% of respondents said audiobook spending is about right, but 41% said spending is too low. Compounding that, librarians buying audiobooks have to consider more formats than ever before and must balance their budgets with community preferences. Some standard library purchasing practices - standing orders and library editions - have gotten a second look as buyers stretch their materials budgets. "If you have to go into a different format and build a core collection, that takes lots of money," observes Jana Prock, director of the Bay City Library, TX, and chair of the Public Library Association Audiovisual Committee. Then, again, she notes, that is also an opportunity to write new grants. Indeed, some 35% of respondents said they used gifts or grants to augment their audiobook budgets.

CDs chase cassettes

One clear trend is that CDs are supplanting cassettes as the format of choice. While 77% of library collections now consist of cassettes and 23% CDs, that's expected to approach parity in a few years. That suggests that current spending now leans heavily toward CDs. Still, cassettes represent some 85% of the collections in smaller libraries, those serving under 10,000 people. The Brooklyn Public Library, NY, only last year started moving toward CDs - and now expects to stop buying cassettes. "We found out that's what people really wanted," says Joe Anne Shapiro, manager of materials selection. Indeed, the rise of CDs parallels the rise of DVDs, which are rapidly supplanting the VHS format for movies. The difference, however, is that many people have both video and DVD players, while most audiobook listeners do so in the car and must depend on older technology. Also, while circulation for cassettes outpaces CDs for adult audiobooks by a nearly 3-1 ratio, the average title on CD circulates more often. That may be attributed not only to the emerging preference for CDs but also to the preponderance of newer titles on CD. Certain genres are more sought after in specific formats. Women's romance remains more popular on cassette, but business books now appear almost exclusively on CD, notes Mary Beth Roche of Audio Renaissance, president of the Audio Publishers Association. "With other categories, it's muddier."

Unabridged rises

Librarians surveyed say they buy nearly two-thirds of their titles (64%) in unabridged format, with 36% abridged. Two years ago, unabridged was 57% and abridged 43%. Still, libraries serving under 10,000 people - which have smaller budgets - have slightly more than half their collections in abridged, while the figure for the largest libraries is 20%. "We are shifting away from abridged, probably because more new titles are coming out unabridged," reports Judy Napier, director of popular services, Schaumburg Township District Library, IL. Still, she notes that there's a market for abridged books, especially for those who have short commutes or want highlights from business books. At the Hennepin County Library, Minnetonka, MN, "When you have a tight budget, you have to figure out where to put your money," observes Jeffrey Gegner, senior librarian and popular materials specialist. "Where do we have the holds? Unabridged."

Cost questions

Librarians responding to the survey said they buy 69% of their purchases in library editions but would like to buy more. Still, smaller libraries buy larger percentages of trade editions - up to 44%. Even at a larger library like Hennepin, Gegner looks to the trade market. "If we have to pick up 50 copies of John Grisham, we say, 'What can we afford and will it last as long as we have demand?'" Some cost-conscious librarians are giving up library editions entirely. "When you can buy a consumer edition for a third of the cost," says Napier, "you can replace it three times." Gegner, who also orders print titles, remembers when there was at least a six-month delay before audiobooks appeared. "By then, the heat was off in terms of public interest." Simultaneous release now means that, for some more popular titles, the title drives its own demand. Besides timely availability, patrons and staff expect the library to maintain backlist audio in the same way it maintains print. "We may not be able to sustain that," Gegner says. "It's that age-old question: How much do you put into new materials, and how much do you put into purchasing new copies of things that have worn out?"

MP3-CDs slow

For years, the audiobook industry has been anticipating MP3-CDs, which can pack 16 hours onto a single disc and seemingly make audiobooks more portable, less costly, and less vulnerable to damage or loss. In LJ's 2002 AV study, librarians predicted that, by 2004, some 2% of library audiobook collections would be in this emerging format. Actually, the percentage is negligible. Publishers have taken vastly different tacks with MP3-CDs. In June, Brilliance announced that it would make all new titles available in MP3, betting that a new market would emerge, owing to lower prices. But audiobook listeners are not MP3-CD-loving teens; they're adults driving cars with built-in cassette players. Librarians surveyed this year say it will take another two years to reach that 2% figure, and they also anticipate that an additional 1% of collections will consist of another emerging format: downloadable MP3s. Then again, 14% of librarians responding said they would eventually deliver the MP3 format. At the Southfield Public Library, MI - which serves a relatively affluent and young population - patrons have embraced the MP3-CD format. In January 2004, the library debuted 50 titles in the new medium, emphasizing best sellers as well as business programming. The library sent a press release to several area newspapers to promote the collection and prominently placed the new discs on a display shelf for six months. After that, the library interfiled MP3-CDs with regular audiobooks. "I am hoping to buy even more MP3s (15%) next year," says media librarian Sara Vazirian Tabaei. Other institutions are proceeding more cautiously. At Schaumburg, Napier says the library is renting MP3-CDs to test demand. She predicts that average listeners, seeking content and convenience, will choose the MP3. More computer-savvy people, especially those who travel and depend on PDAs, will prefer downloadable audio. "You'll have two markets," she concludes. Most Important Attributes for Audiobook Purchase

Replacement Policy	78%
Availability of Unabridged	55%
Authors Featured	52%
Library Discounts	46%
Reasonable Pricing	44%
SOURCE: LIBRARY JOURNAL AUDIOBOOK SURVEY, 2004

Library and Media Budgets Average Budget 2004 Fiscal Year

Population Served	Total Operating Budget	Materials Budget	Total Media Budget	Audiobooks /Spoken Word Budget	Video/DVD Budget	Music CD Budget
Under 10,000	$156,000	$22,000	$4,500	$2,000	$2,000	$500
10,000 - 24,999	505,000	71,000	14,000	6,000	6,000	2,000
25,000 - 49,999	1,300,000	172,000	26,000	11,000	11,000	4,000
50,000 - 99,999	2,500,000	316,000	59,000	22,000	28,000	9,000
100,000 - 249,999	4,400,000	586,000	103,000	40,000	49,000	14,000
250,000 - 499,999	11,200,000	1,400,000	211,000	90,000	87,000	34,000
500,000 or more	31,100,000	4,200,000	680,000	241,000	325,000	114,000
SOURCE: LIBRARY JOURNAL AUDIOBOOK SURVEY, 2004

Population Served	Size of Audiobook Collection
Under 10,000	656
10,000 - 24,999	1,763
25,000 - 49,999	2,975
50,000 - 99,999	5,214
100,000 - 249,999	9,196
250,000 - 499,000	20,290
500,000 or more	66,342
SOURCE: LIBRARY JOURNAL AUDIOBOOK SURVEY, 2004

Adult Audiobook Circulation Breakdown

CDs	26%
Cassettes	74%
SOURCE: LIBRARY JOURNAL AUDIOBOOK SURVEY, 2004

Adult Audiobook Collection Breakdown

CDs	23%
Cassettes	77%
SOURCE: LIBRARY JOURNAL AUDIOBOOK SURVEY, 2004

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Norman Oder is Editor, News, LJ