CW MARS OVER ONE MILLION DIGITAL CHECKOUTS IN 2020
CW MARS Announces Over One Million Ebook and Audiobook Checkouts Again in 2020.
CW MARS saw an increase of 34% in checkouts on digital content in 2020 over 2019. Each year, our use of electronic materials (ebooks, audiobooks, magazines) continues to grow. 2020 reached a total of 1.808M checkouts on electronic content.
This accomplishment illustrates the continued growth and importance of library digital lending of ebooks and audiobooks, especially in a year hit hard by a global pandemic. CW MARS is one of 102 systems around the world that surpassed one million checkouts (complete list here).
"This year ebooks and audiobooks took on a new level of importance for our library and our patrons," said Sulma Rubert-Silva, Associate Director of the Worcester Public Library. "While we were forced to temporarily close our doors and limit some of our services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our librarians immediately went to work to ensure we could still serve the public. A big part of that service included increasing our holdings of ebooks and audiobooks, to keep up with the demand from our patrons who were quarantined at home and seeking new sources of entertainment and information."
CW MARS member libraries have been providing readers 24/7 access to ebooks and audiobooks since 2009 through OverDrive and its Libby reading app. Reader interest and usage has grown every year. Member libraries with the highest amount of digital book checkouts include Worcester Public Library, Shrewsbury Public Library, Jones Library (Amherst), Forbes Library (Northampton), Springfield Public Library, Hopkinton Public Library, Marlborough Public Library, Westborough Public Library, Westfield Athenaeum, and Berkshire Athenaeum (Pittsfield).
The highest-circulating title CW MARS readers borrowed through OverDrive in 2020 was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. See our top 10 list for 2020.
Readers in central and western Massachusetts just need a valid library card from a CW MARS member library to access digital books from CW MARS’s OverDrive-powered digital collection. Readers can use any major device, including Apple(R), Android™, Chromebook™ and Kindle(R) (US only).
Visit https://cwmars.overdrive.com/ or download the Libby app to get started and borrow ebooks and audiobooks anytime, anywhere. Contact your local library to apply for or renew your CW MARS library card.