Abstract
The year 2020 saw the COVID-19 pandemic have a dramatic impact on life across the globe with all institutions having to react to changing circumstances. Public libraries were not exempt from this and found themselves needing to reconsider how they provided services during this time. A growing body of literature suggests that previous behaviour patterns were interrupted during the pandemic, with changes seen in the use of public library resources, and particularly greater use of digital. Although the publishing industry indicates an increase in audiobook use, there is limited research focussed specifically on library settings. This article investigates the provision and promotion of audiobooks in public libraries in England and Wales during the pandemic with a view to understanding both the changes seen in this area and to identify any learnings from this time that can be of benefit to public libraries in the future. A mixed methods research approach explored the views of public librarians on a variety of topics associated with audiobook usage, as well as investigating the impact and style of promotion activities on social media. Some surprising findings arose, including how limitations related to social media promotion of audiobooks were indicative of wider issues, and how questions around the future of audiobooks can shed light on what may be needed in the public library of tomorrow.
Introduction
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw challenges for all areas of society. Whilst governments, scientists and health care systems across the world were grappling with the effects of the pandemic and trying to mitigate the impact on populations, other organisations were trying to understand what these new circumstances meant and how they could continue to operate. This was no different for public libraries who experienced the challenge of moving a largely physical service, to a mostly digital one during lockdown. How they approached this varied for every public library dependent on their individual circumstances, however through the pandemic ‘public libraries (have) remained true to their mission as community institutions, continuing to function and respond to the new situation by finding creative ways to serve their communities’ (Alajmi and Albudaiwi, 2021: 540).
With people finding themselves spending more time at home unable to socialise with others (Kirk et al., 2022) public libraries saw membership grow by 32% and an increase of 27% in the number of people utilising digital resources (Libraries Connected, 2020a: 7–23). Additionally in the wider publishing industry audiobook use grew during the pandemic with almost half of all audiobook consumers in 2020 increasing their use in the previous 12 months (Nielsen, 2020: 55). This trend was also mirrored in public libraries with audiobook checkouts increasing by 113% in the first lockdown (Libraries Connected, 2020a: 7–23). Prior to the pandemic Dali and Brochu (2020) examined why audiobooks required advocacy in public libraries and so the subsequent increase in popularity during the pandemic provides an interesting period in which to examine the relationship between audiobooks and public libraries.
Previous research has focussed on the experience of librarians during the pandemic (Alajmi and Albudaiwi, 2021; Cowell, 2021; Lenstra and D’Arpa, 2022) and on public libraries’ use of social media in promotion activities (Choi and Kim, 2021). Other researchers have looked outside of public libraries and examined reading trends in general at this time (Bakhshi et al., 2023) and audiobook trends during the pandemic (Best, 2020; Best and Clark, 2021; Best et al., 2022). Yet this research project brings together these themes whilst focussing specifically on the use and promotion of audiobooks in public libraries during the pandemic to understand if any learnings can be taken from this time and make recommendations for the future. As Wakeling et al (2022: paragraph 4) highlight this is important to help in the event of future crises, but also facilitates ‘valuable wider reflection on possible trends in service and resource provision, and the roles and functions of public libraries, which COVID-19 has made visible’.
The research focussed on addressing the following objectives:
To discover the audiobook landscape and the types of people who are likely to use this media.
To investigate if public libraries changed their approach to either the provision or promotion of audiobooks through the duration of the pandemic.
To explore if the number of audiobooks borrowed from public libraries in England and Wales changed post-March 2020.
To determine if there is a preference for library users to borrow physical audiobooks or use online resources, and whether this changed during 2020 and 2021.
To establish any trends that emerged in the provision and promotion of audiobooks in a public library setting since March 2020.
To suggest recommendations for the future of audiobook purchasing, promotion and lending practices for public libraries.
Literature review
COVID-19 pandemic and public libraries
On the 11th March 2020 the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in response to a dramatic increase in both the number of cases of COVID-19 and the number of countries who were impacted (World Health Organisation, 2020). This was followed on 23rd March 2020 by the UK Government announcing a lockdown with much of the population being asked to stay at home to reduce the spread of the disease (Institute for Government, 2022). Public libraries across the UK responded by closing their doors and attempting to identify ways to move their services online with limited notice (Libraries Connected, 2020b).
There followed several national and local lockdowns (Institute for Government, 2022; Scottish Parliament Information Centre, 2022; Senedd Research, 2022) together with resulting additional periods of closure for public libraries, and further restrictions. Public libraries faced many challenges, particularly related to continually adapting to the changing restrictions and striving to provide a suitable level of service to their communities at a time of need (Jones, 2020: 954). This meant implementing new processes such as restricting visitor numbers, one-way systems and quarantining books between borrowers (Libraries Connected, n.d.). Such varying conditions resulted in an increase in digital lending with almost a third of those who used a public library during the 2020 lockdown using a digital resource (Peachey, 2020: 10). However, in contrast McMenemy et al. (2022: 103) found that whilst libraries noted an increase in the number of digital loans, it was accompanied by a significantly greater reduction in the amount of physical loans.
Despite Kerr and Pennington (2018: 238) highlighting that the ability to provide digital access to materials is one of the factors of the ‘user centric, socially rich and communally innovative’ library 2.0 era in order to achieve the move to an increased digital service many libraries faced significant work to expand services usually available in library buildings to be available online and accessed from home (Peachey, 2020: 10). This led to changes in areas such as technology, budget allocation and staff training, whilst also becoming more digitally focussed in terms of working practices. For some this meant a focus on digital agility ‘to connect with existing patrons while also expanding digital services to attract a new cohort of COVID-19 and lockdown-affected patrons requiring online services and information’ (Smith, 2020: 425). For others the focus was on community support with Tammaro (2020: 218) highlighting the two priorities pursued by Italian libraries during the first wave of COVID-19: allowing members of the public to access the library from home and using all available tools to communicate with their community. Whatever approach was chosen, Goddard (2020) believes that maintaining services at this time has led librarians to create a new type of service model that should now be considered the new normal.
Audiobooks
The ability to record a person speaking first became possible when Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877 (Rubery, 2011: 3). In the UK the First World War proved a catalyst for audiobook creation when the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) developed a ‘Talking Book’ to support soldiers who had lost their sight (RNIB, n.d.), Perhaps because of the history associated with the first commercial uses of audiobooks they were initially seen as mainly for use by people with reading impediments however more recently there has been increasing use by wider society (Engelen, 2008: 217). Several reasons have been suggested for this increase such as supporting people with physical disabilities, literacy issues and those learning a second language (Dali and Brochu, 2020) while Best (2020: 7) highlights ‘..many struggling, less advanced or less confident readers will be able to access a wider range of stories where difficulty in decoding or comprehending the written text may act as a barrier’. In addition, the development of digital technology provides an easier means of listening to audiobooks (Spjeldnæs and Karlsen, 2022), with the use of smart speakers and mobile phones improving the ease of access and the ability to undertake other activities whilst listening to audiobooks (Snelling, 2021: 643–644).
Despite such benefits regarding access, arguments have pervaded as to whether listening to a book is a legitimate form of reading, with Rubery highlighting an accusation by Sven Birkerts that audiobooks posed ‘a threat to concentrated attention or what he calls “deep reading”’ (Rubery, 2011: 3). In contrast Baskin and Harris propose that the history ‘of recorded books harkens back to ancient times when stories, commentaries, poems, and histories were transmitted by storytellers: the first literature was heard, not read’ (Baskin and Harris, 1995: 372), while Lee suggests that ‘reading a physical book and listening to the audiobook are two different paths that lead to the same destination’ (Lee, 2018: para. 2). Taking this further Whitehouse (2010) believes that while audiobooks were traditionally regarded as an inferior type of publishing, they are becoming one of the most technically advanced forms of publishing (p. 176).
Use of audiobooks
Prior to the pandemic the use of audiobooks was steadily increasing. Writing in 2007 Philips highlighted how difficult it was to find data specifically on audiobook sales or analysis of the performance of this medium (Philips, 2007: 294) due to a failure to acknowledge its significance as a reading format. However, a decade later the prominence of audiobooks had increased, and more data was available confirming the increased numbers of people accessing this type of content. By the end of 2017 the number of audiobook purchases in the UK had risen by 12% and accounted for 5% of the total UK consumer book spending (Wood, 2018).
In early March 2020 society was faced with restrictions on their movements (BBC, 2020; Welsh Government, 2020) and this disruption had a noticeable impact on the use of audiobooks with Snelling (2021) highlighting an increase in the number of audiobook clubs during the pandemic enabling social activity and contact (p. 646). Additionally, an increase in the sale of audiobooks was registered during January to June 2021 as up by 71% when compared to same period for 2019 (Publishers Association, 2021). This increase in use was also noted by the National Literacy Trust reporting 44.3% of adults had listened to an audiobook, with 38% of these increasing their use during 2021 (Best et al., 2022: 2). Further research examining the use of audiobooks by reluctant readers and underrepresented children found that during lockdown almost a fifth of young people had listened to an audiobook for the first time or listened to one more than previously (Best and Clark, 2021: 2).
Demographic aspects of audiobook engagement show that numbers of people who listen to audiobooks were almost the same according to gender and community type, however those who had graduated from higher education were more likely to use this type of medium as were those who were under the age of 65 (Zickuhr and Rainie, 2014: 6). These findings were somewhat echoed during the pandemic with Döring et al. looking at the use of ebooks, audiobooks and podcasts by people aged between 16 and 65 years in Germany. They identified 12 insights into the behaviour of users including the finding that that audiobooks are used mainly by adults between the ages of 16 and 55 years, with people older than 56 years less likely to use this media (Döring et al., 2022: 46). Best and Clark (2021) highlighted that age can also be a factor in the use of audiobooks by children with a greater number of children aged between 8 and 11 years using audiobooks compared to older children (p. 3).
Delivery of audiobooks in a library environment
One way to access audiobooks in the UK is via public libraries, who offer access either by lending out physical resources such as CDs or providing access to a digital platform, with libraries increasingly having to make decisions not just regarding the content of their collections but also which format will be acquired (Sieben and Pei, 2023). Indeed, Cahill and Moore (2017) highlight the importance of libraries lending audiobooks in multiple formats to ensure equity of access to all users (p. 27). Despite the availability of external sources of audiobooks, public libraries saw the use of their own audiobook collections grow with an increase of 113% being reported in audiobook checkouts following the first lockdown (Libraries Connected, 2020a: 23).
UK public libraries usually provide access to digital audiobooks via third parties such as Libby (2022) or Borrow Box (n.d.), with functionality linked to from the library website or app. At the onset of the pandemic public libraries were challenged by enforced closures to decide how they would continue to provide resources for their users. Generally this meant focussing on digital resources yet while some public libraries already had a significant digital provision, others found that they did not have enough copies of desired titles to satisfy users (Reid and Mesjar, 2023: 7–8), resulting in the revisiting of existing budget decisions and sacrificing budget assigned for the purchase of physical books (Reid and Mesjar, 2023: 8).
The pricing of digital audiobooks for public libraries through the pandemic has not been written about extensively, however academic librarians noticed a trend emerging in ebook pricing with ‘increasingly restrictive licences being applied to titles, further excessive price rises – by as much as 500% and e-books withdrawn from individual sale and exclusively placed in high-priced, poor-value bundled packages’ (Anderson and McCauley, 2022: 2). This led to the creation of a librarian-led campaign for fairer digital pricing using the hashtag #ebooksos (Anderson and McCauley, 2022). Use of third parties facilitating access to audiobook collections has thus resulted in a challenging situation (Lieu and Zhau, 2019: 255–256) whereby audiobooks are ‘often more expensive, (are) restricted by digital rights management, have varying acquisition and distribution models depending on vendors and publishers’.
The ability to access and use online resources however is not always universal, with people unable to use the internet, exhibiting traits such as being ‘increasingly older, less educated, more likely to be unemployed, disabled, and socially isolated’ (Helsper and Reisdorf, 2017: para. 57). Whilst the number of UK homes with no internet access fell during the pandemic (Ofcom, 2021), there remained a proportion of the population with no access to online content. Indeed, research into Australian public libraries during the pandemic (Garner et al., 2021) showed that 56% of libraries took extra measures to enable support for people with limited access to technology. Additionally, even those with internet access, may lack the skills required to effectively access and use digital audiobooks from a public library (Ruthven et al., 2022: paragraph 47) CILIP have previously outlined how ‘as more of our lives take place online those who are on the wrong side of the digital divide will be increasingly disadvantaged’ (CILIP, 2014: slide 1).
Promotion of library services and audiobooks
To ensure public library users were able to utilise library services during a time of closure and restrictions, libraries required effective communication methods to disseminate news and information quickly. Prior to the pandemic Potter (2012: 91) advocated for libraries to use Web 2.0 platforms to talk directly to their users, echoed by Canty (2012) in his belief that social media ‘can be powerful information dissemination tools and offer a way for libraries to promote their activities, resources and services while allowing a two-way dialogue with stakeholders’ (p. 43).
Accordingly, it was to social media that public libraries turned in March 2020. When writing about the experience of leading an Australian public library early in the pandemic, Cowell (2021: 252) found that keeping ‘information simple, delivering key messages and transitioning our members to our digital library were our main aims in the early stages of library closures’. Equally Tammaro (2020: 219) highlights that whilst social media was used intensively by Italian libraries at this time, it was mostly to push information out, rather than to create a sustained two-way interaction with their communities, while a lack of strategic direction, together with staff and budgetary shortages hindered active use of social media during this time by Greek libraries (Koulouris et al., 2021: 30–31). Additionally, Reid and Bloice (2021: 32) highlight that this did not necessarily guarantee that information would successfully reach the intended audience highlighting two factors impacting the success of social media use; the low number of followers on public library social media channels, along with the possibility of tension from library management regarding what could be posted by members of staff. Also, while Ćirić and Ćirić (2021: 54) describe how working from home allowed librarians to promote digital library services, Weeks (2022: 2) argues that this exacerbated library staff digital skills shortages, and access to suitable broadband and computer equipment required for efficient service delivery.
Audiobook promotion has faced several challenges over previous years. In 2007 Philips wrote about his belief that the potential for audiobooks was not being exploited due to marketing techniques focussing largely on what had proven successful for traditional books (Philips, 2007: 299–300). Yet when discussing the actions of publishers during the pandemic Snelling (2021) highlights how promotion reacted to the pressures being felt by the public at the time such that the tone in marketing messages provided a distraction from the news yet remained sensitive (p. 654).
Methodology
Bell and Waters (2018) highlight the importance of considering what information is needed and why before selecting a methodology (p. 139). As this investigation into the use of audiobooks in public libraries during the pandemic required information such as the number of audiobooks borrowed, as well as reflections from librarians, a method that allowed the gathering of both quantitative and qualitative data meant a mixed methods approach was considered most appropriate (Bell and Waters, 2018: 24–25) which Johnson, Onwuegbuzie and Turner believe ‘should be used when the nexus of contingencies in a situation, in relation to one’s research question(s), suggests that mixed methods research is likely to provide superior research findings and outcomes’ (p. 129). This mixed method approach utilised a questionnaire to collect data on the use of audiobooks in public libraries as well as the thoughts and experience of librarians on how this changed over 2020/2021. Additional data on how audiobooks were promoted on social media by public libraries during the pandemic was collected through an analysis of their Facebook posts. Both data sets were then used to establish any trends that emerged during this time with a view to suggesting recommendations for the future.
The questionnaire was used to gather data from public librarians owing to the ability to reach many people over a large geographical area whilst not incurring a substantial cost (Pickard, 2017: 207). It included a small number of quantitative questions, along with several more open-ended questions designed to encourage respondents to provide context for their thoughts on this topic. The questionnaire was distributed electronically using Jisc Online (https://www.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/) and aimed to explore audiobook strategy and use in a variety of public library settings. Key areas addressed in the questionnaire included:
• Location of library
• What social media was used
• Use of audiobooks prior to and during the pandemic
• Trends noticed in use of audiobooks (such as popular genres, age of audiobook user and preferred format of audiobook)
• Changes made to audiobook stock or promotion during the pandemic.
The completion of questionnaires is dependent on the goodwill of potential respondents and it can therefore be difficult for a lone researcher to achieve something near a truly random sample (Bell and Waters, 2018: 18–19), therefore the questionnaire was promoted to public librarians via Twitter, LinkedIn (https://uk.linkedin.com/) and a Libraries Connected newsletter to encourage as many responses as possible, creating an ‘opportunity sample’ (Bell and Waters, 2018: 19). Seven public librarians responded to the questionnaire, with four being from a rural area of England and three from an urban area of England; however, it is important to note they were responding on behalf of their wider library authority. Despite the small number of responses it was felt that particularly through the answers received to the open-ended questions the data collected provided an opportunity to unpick the experience of public libraries during a specific point in time, with Holtom et al. (2022) outlining that the ‘goal is not always to secure the highest response rate possible, but to obtain the highest quality responses possible that result in a sample that is appropriate for a study’s goals’ (p. 1580). Such a lack of engagement around the specific topic of audiobooks is also represented in existing literature, when Whitehouse (2010) attempted to ask 900 librarians for their opinion on new legislation around audiobooks and changes regarding copyright he met with little response (p. 177).
Whilst the questionnaire provided data on audiobook usage in public libraries, it was recognised that promotion activities may also have had an impact. Social media was embraced by public libraries to communicate with their users during the pandemic (Choi and Kim, 2021: 714) and previous research (Aharony, 2012; Reid and Bloice, 2021) has used social media analysis to examine research questions. Whereas Reid and Bloice (2021: 15) examined public libraries across 32 Scottish local authority areas, time constraints meant that a smaller sample was chosen for this study, and it was necessary to focus on one specific social media channel. Whilst all questionnaire respondents indicated that they used both Twitter and Facebook during this time, Reid and Bloice (2021: 16) found that whilst some public libraries preferred to communicate via Twitter, Facebook was the dominant social media at this time. As only a small number of responses to the questionnaire were received the decision was made to perform analysis on a sample of public libraries’ Facebook posts in line with the research by Reid and Bloice (2021: 16).
Published lists of public libraries in England (Gov.UK, 2018) and Wales (CILIP, 2018) were examined, and checks performed to confirm if a Facebook account was active. Whilst undertaking this exercise it was noticed that the majority utilised a Facebook account for the library authority area rather than individual libraries with 132 English and 20 Welsh library authority areas being identified with Facebook accounts. Simple random sampling was performed (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2018: 176–177) with lists of the library authority areas in each country being ordered using a random number generator and the top 9 English public library authorities and five Welsh being selected for inclusion in the data collection. Each library area was assigned a unique identifier where the first letter denoted their location and a table showing the profile of the library authority areas selected for the data collection can be seen in Table 1. Whilst this simple random sampling resulted in a variety of English geographical areas being represented in the study, all five Welsh library areas were from the south. Of the 20 Welsh library authority areas with a Facebook page, 12 were from south Wales and so this was accepted as a consequence of the sampling method used to deal with the time constraints of the study.
Profile information of library authority areas included in the Facebook analysis.
Facebook posts made by the selected public library areas between 1st January 2019 and 31st December 2021 were included in the data collection. The Facebook (2023a) terms of service specify that data must not be collected using automated means and so the data was collected by manually scrolling with each post made between the dates 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2021 recorded for analysis. Only content written by the public library authority was included such as original posts or content written when re-sharing a third-party post, with any content from third parties or comments made by the public not included in the data collection. Additionally, some Welsh libraries duplicated their posts in both English and Welsh, however only posts written in English were included. Posts were coded based on the content of the message using a bespoke categorisation scheme shown in Table 2.
Coding scheme used for Facebook posts.
Both the questionnaire and the Facebook analysis had qualitative textual data that needed to be understood to answer the underlying objectives. A form of hermeneutic content analysis was used on both data sets to understand the textual material as a whole by breaking down and studying some of the underlying parts (Bergman, 2010: 388–390). Bergman outlines the stages required for this approach as a qualitative content analysis such as coding, followed by a more quantitative analysis looking at the frequency of specific elements to identify patterns before finally recontextualising this data and integrating the results (Bergman, 2010: 388–390).
Several ethical considerations underpinned this research project such as ensuring informed consent from participants and gaining ethical consent from Northumbria University prior to commencing the study (Northumbria University, 2023). The confidentiality of participants was important; therefore, data was anonymised with no personal identifiable data included. However, the Facebook analysis brought with it different ethical considerations with Reid and Bloice (2021) highlighting that social media platforms continually revise their terms of service as well as there being ‘issues around the ethics of gathering social media posts without the explicit permission of the account owner’ (p. 18). This research project conformed to the Facebook terms of service at the time of the analysis (Facebook, 2023a), and whilst no explicit consent was sought from the public libraries selected, only publicly available posts made by the libraries themselves were included. Salmons (2017) has argued that it is possible to conduct some social media research without informed consent provided the data is extant in nature, rather than elicited or enacted (p. 185) which was the case in this research project.
A key limitation is the potential for bias, with Brannen and O’Connell (2016) highlighting the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods in mixed methods research does not guarantee a solution removing the biases of each method (p. 270) and indeed any potential bias of the questionnaire respondents being unknown to the researcher (Saunders et al., 2019: 449). Additionally, as Preissle et al. (2016) highlight ‘no one can report everything that occurs during data collection, and selection of what to include involved ethical as well as analytic choices’ (p. 156). This was addressed through the design of the research with the triangulation of results from both data collections, and taking care to ensure a rounded view of the results was provided.
Findings and discussion
Questionnaire
A questionnaire was used to gather the views of public librarians on several topics related to audiobooks. Respondents were assigned a unique identifier during analysis using L1–L7. As Figure 1 shows the respondents saw varying levels of audiobook use during the period 2019–2021 with most confirming a year-on-year growth in the borrowing of digital audiobooks, while L3–L7 all reported a substantial drop in lending of physical audiobooks. In contrast L1 reported a slight growth in the numbers borrowing physical audiobooks in 2021 following static numbers in 2019 and 2020, and whilst the 2021 usage was an estimate and therefore should be treated with caution it remains interesting that this library bucked the trend seen by other respondents.
Number of physical and digital audiobooks borrowed from public libraries.
Whilst L1 saw the use of digital audiobooks remain behind the numbers utilising physical stock for the years 2019–2020, the other respondents to this question (L3–L6) saw digital audiobook usage grow substantially higher than that of physical ones, with a clear preference for users to utilise this medium. Indeed, while Peachey found that during 2020 almost a third of library users used a digital resource (Peachey, 2020: 10), the questionnaire responses showed an increase in digital audiobook use ranging from 40% to 51% for 2019 to 2020.
When looking at the total audiobooks borrowed during this time a conflicting picture emerges with Figure 2 showing three libraries with reduced levels in overall audiobook lending in 2020 compared to 2019 despite an increase in the use of digital audiobooks, confirming the findings of McMenemy et al. (2023) that the drop in physical loans was not offset by the increase in digital loans. The experience of L1 and L3 however indicate this trend was not universal as they saw an increase in total audiobooks lent during this period, and all libraries in the sample saw levels of audiobook usage in 2021 grow when compared to both 2019 and 2020.
Total number of audiobooks borrowed from public libraries.
A recurring theme in the questionnaire responses was a lack of data, such as the inability to report on the number of digital audiobooks borrowed (L7), the popularity of specific genres (L6 and L7) and the ages of borrowers (L6 and L7). Thus, highlighting a potential lack of access to information pertinent to decision making, which Libraries Connected considers a key issue during the pandemic related to ‘restrictions on collecting data from third-party platforms which libraries used to broadcast digital content’ (Libraries Connected, 2020a: 7). This may potentially cause additional challenges for public libraries as it is essential to ensure that methods of evaluation provide accurate information on collection usage to determine if library funds and resources are being suitably utilised (Sieben and Pei, 2023: paragraph 46).
Where data was accessible by libraries it was noted that one genre that grew was children’s audiobooks, with three respondents specifically highlighting this was driven almost entirely by the use of digital resources. This is consistent with research by Best and Clark (2021: 5) which found that most young people have access to digital technology and that during lockdown 1 in 10 children downloaded an audiobook for the first time while a further 1 in 10 children had downloaded more audiobooks. There was a consensus amongst respondents that age was the primary factor in the use of digital versus physical, with children’s use of audiobooks predominantly being driven by digital, and older people primarily utilising physical devices. However, three respondents did acknowledge that whilst the older generation were more likely to use physical audiobooks, they had seen a rise in the numbers accessing digital audiobooks, with one respondent citing that a main factor for format selection was the wealth of library users, such that poorer users were more likely to select physical audiobook (CD) rather than an online digital version.
This use of audiobooks during the pandemic led to many public libraries reviewing their stock purchasing plans with two respondents confirming that they reduced their spend on physical stock while significantly increasing their spend on digital audiobooks, and most respondents confirming they encouraged customers to consider digital audiobooks above physical. Respondents highlighted that digital audiobooks provided a greater range of titles and the ability to reach customers at home when buildings were closed, whilst addressing some of the perceived negatives of physical stock such as the time taken to clean discs, as well as the physical space required to quarantine returned items and costs associated with replacing damaged items. Several respondents also highlighted that supply chain issues resulted in limited availability of physical stock even if libraries wanted to grow collections. However as Reid and Bloice (2021) have highlighted while digital suddenly became the principal method for accessing both audiobooks and ebooks from public libraries during the pandemic, this was ‘not so much a wholesale change in direction as emphasising more strongly an offer that was that was already there’ (p. 45) and as such public libraries had differing levels of digital resources as a starting point early in the pandemic when the shift in focus to digital occurred resulting in a ‘chicken-and-egg situation’ where small digital collections led to lower levels of uptake and therefore less money for these resources in the future (Reid and Bloice, 2021: 38–39).
Financial considerations were also cited as impacting collection decisions including budget cuts when funds were directed elsewhere, and the cost of digital audiobooks compared to other mediums as digital audiobooks were considerably more expensive than either physical audio or ebooks. The increasing price and restrictions on ebooks has been written about previously (Anderson and McCauley, 2022: 2) however this would indicate that similar frustrations were felt with regard to audiobooks. However almost all respondents confirmed that their digital audiobook collections grew significantly during the pandemic, with two library authorities now having more digital audiobooks than physical.
The closure of public libraries during the pandemic led to social media being used as a primary tool for promoting services (Cowell, 2021; Reid and Bloice, 2021; Tammaro, 2020). Whilst Reid and Bloice (2021: 16) found that the dominant social media was Facebook, all respondents indicated that they used both Facebook and Twitter (Figure 3). When asked about the promotion of audiobooks, there was a mix between those who promoted access to audiobook services in general (four respondents), and those who promoted access to both audiobooks in general and specific titles (two respondents). Almost all respondents confirmed that in the future they would continue to focus promotion activities on digital stock, with reasons given including: an increased demand from customers, the ability for libraries to free up space and modern library development. It was acknowledged that there was a risk that continued promotion of digital stock may result in falling demand of physical stock leading to reductions in stock, and so on. Interestingly this focus on digital did not receive universal support with one respondent highlighting that they were now looking to incorporate alternative physical formats of audiobooks in their library service stock, as well interpreting the growth of digital as a sign that their physical stock needed more promotion, although it was not clear from the questionnaire response whether this was motivated by user demand, a decision by the library authority or the personal view of the librarian.
Social media channels used by public libraries.
Social media analysis
Additional data analysis activities focussed on Facebook posts written by 14 public library authority areas during 2019–2022, a total of 20,265 Facebook posts analysed (Figure 4).
Number of Facebook posts included in analysis.
The most popular categories of Facebook post were ‘Event’ and ‘Other’, the prominence of which is evident when looking at the percentage of posts about events compared to the percentage of posts promoting lending which can be seen in Figures 5 to 7. The lending (all types) data is the combined total of posts categorised as promoting audiobooks, physical books, ebooks, newspapers and magazines, multiple lending – including audiobooks, and multiple lending – excluding audiobooks.
Number of Facebook posts about events compared to those regarding lending in 2019.
Number of Facebook posts about events compared to those regarding lending in 2020.
Number of Facebook posts about events compared to those regarding lending in 2021.
In 2019 sampled public libraries posted about events more than all types of lending activities combined, however in 2020 this changed with four English libraries and all five Welsh libraries posting about lending activities a higher percentage of times. Whilst this is perhaps unsurprising due to the constraints of lockdowns, it is noteworthy that five English libraries still posted about events more than any type of lending during this time which is at odds with the experience of Cowell (2021: 252) who suggested the main aims in the early part of the pandemic were to focus on information delivery and encouraging the use of the digital library. It does however confirm pre-pandemic research by Joo et al. (2018) that discovered posts about events were the most common Facebook post of American libraries (p. 941), as does the fact that the number of libraries in the sample who reverted to a focus on events grew in 2021.
Figure 8 shows the percentage of Facebook posts that promoted solely audiobooks and highlights that in most cases the number of posts dedicated to this medium did not change significantly over the pandemic, with the exception of one library who moved from 76% of their posts being about audiobooks in 2019 to just 6% in 2020. Almost all questionnaire respondents confirmed they promoted digital audiobooks over physical ones in response to the pandemic, however analysis of the Facebook posts promoting just audiobooks shows that this was also happening prior to the pandemic. While in 2020 eleven of the public library services who posted specifically about audiobooks wrote posts only promoting digital versions, this was also the case for most of the public library services (9) well before the pandemic started. This is interesting when noting that Libraries Connected (2020a) had witnessed a 27% increase in the number of people joining public libraries to utilise digital resources in the first lockdown (p. 7) despite the apparent pre-pandemic focus on promoting this type of resource.
Percentage of Facebook posts that promoted solely audiobooks.
The analysis of Facebook posts also highlighted missed opportunities in the promotion of audiobooks to blind and partially sighted users, with promotion activities instead focussing on appealing to wider communities. Of the Facebook posts made by the sampled public library services which appealed to those people with impaired vision over the 3-year period, there were four English and one Welsh library service who did no promotion specifically aimed at users with impaired vision. Additionally of the 71 total posts of this nature, only 28 promoted audiobooks, with 26 of these posts occurring during HiVis fortnight (Reading Sight, 2023), an annual event promoting accessible libraries and reading. Analysis of these posts suggests that eight of the library services did not engage with HiVis fortnight on social media over the 3 years examined, while six only promoted audiobook services to visually impaired users during HiVis fortnight, suggesting a box ticking exercise rather than an attempt to continually engage with these library users. This was of particular importance during the pandemic with the RNIB highlighting that two-thirds of blind/partially sighted respondents felt less independent when compared to before lockdown (RNIB, 2020), therefore public libraries may have missed an opportunity to support these users.
A further missed opportunity was seen with the use of alternative text by public library services. Alternative text is used to describe images for website users requiring a screen reader (Gordon, 2022). The Nielsen Norman Group recommend that robust and succinct alternative text is included for all images (Gordon, 2022) with the HiVis website also including specific guidance for alternative text when promoting an event (Reading Sight, 2023). Despite this the sample of Facebook posts showed that whilst 65 of the posts relating to visual impairment included an image, only two included alternative text. This points to a potential knowledge gap for librarians around social media best practice, echoing research by Hill and Oswald (2023) examining Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts made by Ontario public libraries which found that only 2 out of 76 libraries regularly used alternative text (p. 5). Given how useful audiobooks are to people with sight issues, this lack of accessibility has the potential to impact the success of any promotion endeavours.
The question of whether public library staff have a suitable depth of knowledge around social media promotion is also seen with the use of hashtags. Hashtags are used on social media to create a clickable link out of topics or phrases (Facebook, 2023b) and are designed to aid discoverability when internet users are searching for content for a specific goal (Joyce, 2021). Joyce (2021) recommends that attention should be paid to the types of searches that have the potential to lead people to social media posts so that relevant hashtags can be used to increase discoverability, however the Facebook posts in the sample coded as specifically discussing audiobooks show there were inconsistencies in the use of hashtags by public library services.
The analysis found that only two English and one Welsh library service included hashtags in a high percentage of their posts about audiobooks, echoing research by Choi and Kim (2021) looking at Twitter use in the pandemic by American public libraries which found that 55.5% of the sampled tweets did not include a hashtag (p. 722). Additional issues were noticed in the choice of hashtags used. Prior to the pandemic in 2019 the library services used #audiobook and #audiobooks, however the most prominent hashtag was #rbdigital, which is a third-party audiobook provider used by some public libraries. In 2020 the pandemic brought with it a change as #borrowbox, another third-party audiobook provider rose in popularity. During 2021 the hashtags used by library services grew in number and variety with several authors included such as #richardosman, along with hashtags representing themes such as #nurses and #teenreader.
It is noteworthy that for all 3 years hashtags representing the third-party providers such as #rbdigital and #borrowbox were more popular than #audiobook, #eaudiobook or similar variations. This limited use of hashtags suggests that more advice on the nature of social media and how best to optimise promotional posts could benefit librarians, particularly as young people are increasingly using social media such as TikTok instead of conventional search engines when searching for information online (Brookbank, n.d.). In 2020 of the use of the hashtag #BookTok emerged on TikTok (www.tiktok.com), which Martens et al. (2022: 707) attribute in part to the pandemic seeing many teens spending large amounts of time in their rooms. The BookTok hashtag is used by people to share their thoughts on recently read or favourite titles, but also increasingly by publishers looking to promote books (Snelling, 2021: 646–647). Merga (2021: 5–6) details there are benefits for librarians in the use of both TikTok and the hashtag BookTok such as providing insights into the works of literature that are currently popular with young people as well as providing awareness of established and aspiring authors, both of which support future purchasing and promotion decisions. This is already being used as a method of promotion by some audiobook subscription services such as Audiobooks.com (n.d.) and Audible (n.d.). As Van Riel et al. (2008: 179) have previously highlighted ‘whatever form promotion takes in the future, an understanding of reader needs and how to meet them will always be the key to success’.
Conclusion
This research investigated the provision and promotion of audiobooks in public libraries in England and Wales during the pandemic. A number of key learnings have been identified that could be embraced by public libraries to ensure that audiobooks are utilised to their maximum potential and are appropriately promoted to all members of the public who may gain benefit or enjoyment from them. At the same time parallels have been drawn with some of the significant questions currently facing public libraries such as the future of digital resources and how best to adopt new technology to appeal to younger populations, whilst highlighting how audiobook use can add to these conversations.
Discover the audiobook landscape and the types of people who are likely to use this media
The audiobook landscape is changing both as a reaction to the pandemic, and to technological developments. Older people appear to be happy using physical audiobooks when able to access them, and whilst several respondents agree that they have seen a rise in this generation using digital resources it is not clear from this research if that was driven more by a considered choice or the fact that libraries were closed during the pandemic. Digital speakers and digital audiobooks which allow people to listen at a time and location convenient to them are becoming popular with younger generations, with libraries also choosing to promote digital audiobooks over physical ones.
Investigate if public libraries changed their approach to either the provision or promotion of audiobooks through the duration of the pandemic
The pandemic saw public libraries reviewing budget decisions regarding audiobook stock and for some respondents this led to an increase in spend on digital audiobooks, with the greater range of titles available and the perceived negatives of physical stock cited as reasons for this. However, this move to digital audiobooks was not without issue as increased costs impacted public libraries.
Promotion at this time utilised social media and focussed on digital audiobooks however the research indicates that this was already a trend in 2019. With this likely to continue the gaps seen in the social media planning and training for public librarians should be addressed to achieve maximum benefit as no significant changes in audiobook promotion were noticed over the period of study.
Explore if the number of audiobooks borrowed from public libraries in England and Wales changed post-March 2020
Whilst changes were noticed in the number of audiobooks lent by public library services these were not consistent and a wider sample would be needed to draw conclusions. With half the library services who supplied data confirming they saw an overall reduction in the use of audiobooks during the first year of the pandemic, yet others seeing an increase this implies that wider factors may be involved and further research into the specific circumstances at each public library would be required to understand this.
Determine if there is a preference for library users to borrow physical audiobooks or use online resources and whether this changed during 2020 and 2021
The evidence from the questionnaire showed growth in the use of digital audiobooks during 2020 and 2021, which corresponds to the Facebook analysis that most promotion at this time focussed on digital audiobooks. This was a consequence of public libraries being closed during the early stages of the pandemic, however the continued growth in 2021 suggests this may mark a significant phase in the use of audiobooks.
Establish any trends that emerged in the provision and promotion of audiobooks in a public library setting since March 2020
The main trends that have emerged regarding audiobooks during the pandemic include: the move to digital resources, difficulties accessing data to inform decision making, as well several missed opportunities for libraries in terms of being able to optimise their promotion on social media. This is important as while these are things that can improve audiobook provision in libraries, they are also relevant to wider library services and have significance for public libraries who are trying to define what their future should look like in a time of budget cuts, library closures and changing technological and societal fronts.
Suggest recommendations for the future of audiobook purchasing promotion and lending practices for public libraries
Recommendations that could support improved audiobook provision and promotion include:
It is interesting to note that some of the results seen in this research in relation to audiobooks in public libraries during the pandemic were also identified in the IFLA Trend Report 2021 Update as emerging trends shaping the environment that libraries operate in (IFLA, 2021: 3). Of the 20 trends identified in the report, four can be seen in the results of this project: a preference to access library services remotely, a growing awareness of the need to focus on diversity, the need to respond to the changing expectations of younger library users and the need for better data to be able to analyse past use to help predict future needs (IFLA, 2021: 9–18). Additionally, the Libraries Connected action plan for 2023–2027 has also highlighted some of the areas for development suggested by this research, including the requirement to have robust data to enable decision making, as well as ensuring ‘libraries become models of inclusive, diverse, and accessible local services’ (Libraries Connected, 2022: 14).
The number of questionnaire responses meant that this research cannot be taken as representative of the experience of all public libraries in England and Wales during the pandemic. This is also true of the social media analysis which in focussing on the Facebook posts made by public libraries, neglected other forms of social media that may have been used to promote audiobooks. Another limitation can be seen in the decision to focus data collection on public librarians, which whilst invaluable does not consider the opinions of library users, their expectations for audiobook provision or their views on how library resources are promoted on social media.
Whilst the research suggests that digital audiobooks are currently a significant resource for public libraries with their use likely to grow over future years, it is important to note that following the pandemic the UK has experienced a cost-of-living crisis (Partridge, 2023). This is likely to have an impact on the number of people physically visiting libraries as a free source of entertainment and the budgets of libraries providing further challenges around stock purchasing decisions (Bayley, 2022). Future research examining the use of audiobooks currently would provide greater clarity on whether economic challenges have impacted audiobook use and whether the increased focus on digital has been maintained throughout this time particularly as digital exclusion is often linked to social disadvantage (CILIP, 2014). Additionally with growing evidence that young people are using social media in their information seeking routine (Brookbank, n.d.) it would be interesting to perform analysis looking at the content published by public libraries on Instagram or TikTok during the pandemic and validating if the recommendations suggested by the Facebook analysis are applicable to other forms of social media.
Footnotes
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
