If you are a Libby user, you know that waiting lists for popular titles can grow quite long. There are many reasons for this, but the TL;DR version is that digital books/audiobooks are priced much higher for libraries than for consumers. In addition, those purchases expire after a small number of checkouts or 1-2 years. Then the library has to re-purchase in each format to continue to make them available. We do our best to keep wait times down, but it’s not financially feasible for the library to purchase enough copies to keep wait times on par with our print copies.
Both our OverDrive site and the Libby app can provide information about the number of people waiting for a title, but the Libby version is more precise.
OverDrive Site
Before you put a title on hold on the OverDrive site, you can click the question mark icon next to the copy information (0 of 67 copies) to get details:
Because some libraries purchase more copies for their resident patrons, this information doesn’t tell us much. In fact, those numbers seem counterintuitive. After I place a hold, this is what the hold information says:
It’s actually a bit less info. Let’s take a look at this hold in Libby.
Libby App
Clicking on “place a hold” for the same title in the Libby app shows more accurate info about how many people are waiting:
These are much different numbers than what OverDrive showed us, and they attempted to make a wait time estimate. When I click the “in two lanes” link, this is what I see:
This extra context may help, or it may not.
Summary
While neither the OverDrive website nor the Libby app can accurately pinpoint wait time, the estimate and additional information in the Libby app provide a better idea of when your title might become available. Be sure to turn on notifications in the app or email notifications on the website so you don’t miss your turn on the list!
As a reminder, there is no wait for Hoopla titles. If you can see it, you can check it out.
