in Publishing
Libraries, lending and ebooks
Libraries buy books, lend them and pay authors for the privilege. How that works for print and digital is worth understanding before you publish.
Libraries are among the most reliable readers a book can have. They buy copies, they lend them repeatedly, and in the UK they are part of a system that pays authors when their books are borrowed. For ebooks and audiobooks, they also operate under arrangements that differ from ordinary retail.
How libraries acquire books
Public libraries in the UK generally buy books through library suppliers, which are specialist wholesalers that provide books along with cataloguing, processing and servicing such as jackets and labels. Library stock decisions are made by librarians and, in many authorities, by central stock teams working from supplier data and recommendations.
For a book to be bought, it needs to be findable in the data libraries use. That means an ISBN, accurate metadata registered with the bibliographic databases the trade relies on, and availability through the usual supply chains. A book that can only be bought from a single website is difficult for a library to order.
Readers can also request books. Many libraries have a process for patrons to suggest titles, and a request is a reasonable thing for readers to make when they cannot find a book.
Public Lending Right
Public Lending Right, usually shortened to PLR, is the scheme under which authors in the UK receive payments based on how often their books are borrowed from public libraries. It is administered by the British Library. Payments are calculated from loans data sampled from a selection of library authorities, not from every library.
Authors must register their books to receive PLR. Registration is separate from publishing and is not done automatically by the publisher. Other contributors, such as illustrators, translators, editors and narrators, may also be eligible, depending on their contribution and the scheme's rules.
Since 2018, PLR in the UK has covered remote loans of ebooks and audiobooks as well as print. This means digital lending can also generate payments for eligible contributors, provided the books are registered.
Other countries, including Ireland, have their own lending right schemes with their own rules.
Ebooks in libraries
Library ebook and audiobook lending works through platforms that license digital content to libraries and provide it to borrowers. Libraries do not buy an ebook in the way they buy a printed copy. They acquire a licence to lend it, under terms set by the publisher or distributor.
Licence models vary. Some allow one borrower at a time per licence, as with a printed copy. Some expire after a set period or a set number of loans. Others allow multiple simultaneous loans. The price and terms of library licences are usually different from retail terms.
For an independently published ebook, reaching libraries generally means distributing through a service that supplies library platforms. If the ebook is enrolled in a programme that requires retail exclusivity, it will usually not be available to libraries during that period.
Why libraries are worth the effort
Library lending introduces books to readers who might not otherwise try them. A borrower who enjoys a book may buy the next one, recommend it or request it again. Libraries also keep books available for longer than many shops, and they reach communities that do not buy many books.
For authors, lending is not a lost sale so much as a different kind of reading, and in the UK a registered book is paid for it.
Make the book easy to order, register it for PLR, and let libraries do what they do.