Have you become an e-audiobook convert in recent years? Perhaps you’ve discovered the appeal of full-cast recordings, the satisfaction of making your way through a book while walking or weeding, or the joy of being read to by Meryl Streep.
If so, you’re in good company. The Seattle Public Library’s e-audiobook checkouts have more than doubled since 2019, and represent a growing share of digital book checkouts. In honor of the last day of Audiobook Appreciation Month (June!), let’s take a closer look at why our patrons have fallen in love with e-audiobooks and what it means.
The numbers: E-audiobooks rising
As is well-known, patrons have discovered digital books in large numbers since the pandemic. In 2025, the Library ranked 10th in the world for digital book checkouts, and our neighboring library system, KCLS, ranked fourth (!). Last year, our patrons checked out 6.1 million copies of digital books, compared to 4.3 million copies of print books.
Increasingly, this means popping in earbuds and listening to library e-audiobooks. In 2021, e-audiobooks made up 37% of digital book checkouts. That share grew to 49% in 2025.
Adult fiction and nonfiction e-audiobooks have shown the strongest growth. In 2025, e-audiobook checkouts in adult fiction and nonfiction outpaced e-books for the first time, comprising 51% of digital book checkouts.
“Theo of Golden” and the price of popularity
The Library has responded in kind, doubling our e-book collection since 2019. We now have a collection of close to 1.1 million copies of digital books, including 555,000 e-books and 483,000 e-audiobooks.
But popularity has a price. As we’ve communicated, public libraries are charged 3 to 5 times more for an e-book as for its physical counterpart. E-audiobooks are typically even more expensive.
Consider “Theo of Golden.” The surprise bestseller by Allen Levi has thousands of holds on the digital book formats in our catalogue. Here’s how much publishers charge us.
| “Theo of Golden” | Library holds as of 6-26-26 | Library cost per item |
| Print book | 750 | $12.40 per copy |
| E-book | 1,900 | $59.99 for a 24-month license, one user at a time |
| E-audiobook | 2,700 | $89.99, 24-month license, one user at a time |
For context, it’s important to note that public libraries don’t typically “purchase” an e-book. Publishers require that we license it for a certain amount of time, which means we need to repurchase the license if it continues to be popular.
To help manage costs while continuing to provide a digital collection of great depth and breadth, we’ve had to take measures. In 2024, we decreased the number of maximum holds allowed on digital books (more holds trigger more purchases, so they are a key factor in spending). This has helped us level our spending on digital books that are in high demand.
Our Collections team also spends a great deal of time identifying the best-value licensing type for a certain title. For example, last year, we purchased unlimited access for one year for several e-audiobooks titles in the “Heated Rivalry” series. As you can see below, these titles are very popular!
What do “Braiding Sweetgrass” and “Heated Rivalry” have in common?
What books do Library patrons most like to listen to while commuting or doing the dishes? Check the list below and see evidence of Seattle’s special affinity with “Braiding Sweetgrass.” But “Heated Rivalry” is gaining!
You’ll notice that quite a few of our most popular titles are Always Available titles (they are marked with an asterisk *), which means that you can check them out right away. Happy listening!
Most popular e-audiobooks in 2026
- *Heated Rivalry, by Rachel Reid (7,207)
- *Game Changer, by Rachel Reid (5,058)
- The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans (3,820)
- *Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë (3,428)
- Shield of Sparrows, by Derry Pevney (3,153)
- *Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2,616)
- The Housemaid (2,293)
- *Tough Guy, by Rachel Reid (2,255)
- *Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen (2,201)
- You Deserve to Know, by Aggie Blum (2,072)
Most popular e-audiobooks in the last 5 years (2021 to 2026)
- *Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (32,112)
- *101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, by Brianna West (18,837)
- Educated, by Tara Westover (12,957)
- *I’m Glad My Mom Died, by Jennette McCurdy (12,384)
- Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros (12,160)
- Atomic Habits, by James Clear (11,560)
- *The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, by Mark Manson (10,709)
- The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese (10,628)
- The Guest List, by Lucy Foley (10,389)
- *Heated Rivalry, by Rachel Reid (9,408)
Finally, to put a regularly asked question to rest: Yes, e-audiobooks “count” as reading! Listen away, shame-free, and log any audiobook reading as part of your Summer Book Bingo and Summer Quest tracking.
We are grateful for the support of The Seattle Public Library Foundation, whose donors fund 1 in 4 materials in our collection. The 2019 levy, which expires this year, is another important source of funding for Library Collections, including e-books and e-audiobooks.