On March 19, Brampton Library begins its exclusive partnership with cloudLibrary as our content provider for both eBooks and eAudiobooks. This is an exciting move for us, as it allows us to leverage far greater title selection through the exclusive ‘cloudLinking’ system.

Our involvement in cloudLinking offers seamless access to a wider selection of available eBooks and eAudiobooks for you to borrow and enjoy. The linked system has now grown to 14 public libraries across Ontario, with collections continuing to grow as new participating libraries join.

Libraries across the country are experiencing huge growth in checkouts of eBooks and eAudiobooks. We have seen a 15% growth in eBook checkouts and 30% growth in eAudiobook checkouts per year.  I love hearing about the many ways that audiobooks are enjoyed by our customers - folks are listening while they commute, exercise, even while completing their household chores. Meanwhile in our branches, I assure you that physical books aren’t going away.  Brampton Library continues to grow our collections both digitally and of course, in traditional print formats.

There’s been a lot of talk in the media lately about the high cost libraries face in purchasing eContent.  Libraries are passionate about delivering new bestsellers and the widest possible selection of titles as soon as they are available. The high cost is a major struggle for public libraries and so is the licensing system. Sometimes there are titles we cannot get at any price, because publishers have chosen to exclude public library access in their licensing agreements. For example, we cannot currently offer Canadian titles such as Justin Trudeau’s biography or Louise Penny’s latest mystery novel, as these titles are simply not available to us in the audiobook format.

Will you help us to combat these challenges?

Advocacy will help us improve access for Canadian libraries. Consider becoming familiar with the issues that face your borrowing power. To find out more, visit  https://econtentforlibraries.org/

Our move to cloudLibrary as the exclusive content provider for eBooks and eAudiobooks is just one of the ways that Brampton Library works together with other libraries to gain the greatest access to title selection and availability for you.