How to Get Your Book into Libraries: A Step-by-Step Guide

Most independent authors focus entirely on Amazon and forget that libraries exist. That is a significant mistake. Public libraries in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia collectively hold millions of books and lend them billions of times per year. Library readers are some of the most loyal readers in the world. They read constantly, they leave reviews, and they buy the books they love.

Getting your book into libraries is not as complicated as most authors assume. It requires working with the right distribution platforms and understanding how library acquisitions actually work. This guide covers everything you need to know.

How Libraries Acquire Books

Most public libraries in the US and UK do not buy books directly from authors or publishers. They buy through aggregators and distributors. The two main platforms libraries use to acquire ebooks and audiobooks are OverDrive (now Libby) and Hoopla. For print books, libraries order through Ingram, Baker and Taylor, and other wholesale distributors.

This means your book needs to be available through these channels for libraries to even consider purchasing it. If you are only on Amazon KDP Select (Kindle Unlimited), you are invisible to every library buyer in the world. KDP Select requires Amazon exclusivity, which means no OverDrive, no Hoopla, no library distribution of any kind.

Selling wide, meaning distributing your ebook through platforms other than Amazon, is a requirement for library distribution. You do not have to remove your book from Amazon. You simply cannot be in Kindle Unlimited at the same time.

OverDrive and Libby

OverDrive is the largest library ebook and audiobook platform in the world, serving over 90 countries and 43,000 libraries. Readers access OverDrive through the Libby app. If your ebook is available on OverDrive, it can be purchased by any library in their network.

To get your ebook on OverDrive, you need to distribute through a distributor that has a relationship with OverDrive. Draft2Digital and Findaway Voices both supply ebooks and audiobooks to OverDrive. If you use IngramSpark for print distribution, Ingram also supplies ebooks to OverDrive through their CoreSource platform.

Library sales on OverDrive work on a per-copy model. Each time a library buys a copy of your ebook, you receive the royalty on that sale. Some libraries buy multiple copies if a title becomes popular enough to have a waitlist. Your royalty rate through OverDrive varies by distributor but is typically in the range of 40 to 70 percent of the library purchase price.

Hoopla

Hoopla is the second major library ebook and audiobook platform. Unlike OverDrive, Hoopla operates on a metered access model where libraries pay per borrow rather than per copy. This means there is no waitlist. Any patron can borrow your book at any time.

The royalty structure on Hoopla is different from OverDrive. You earn a small royalty per borrow, typically between 50 cents and a few dollars depending on the format and title type. The advantage is volume. A popular title on Hoopla can generate hundreds of borrows per month across thousands of libraries without requiring individual library purchase decisions.

To get on Hoopla, distribute through Draft2Digital or use your IngramSpark account. Both have relationships with Hoopla for ebook and audiobook supply.

Print Books in Libraries: IngramSpark

For print books, the most effective route to library shelves is IngramSpark. Ingram is the largest book wholesaler in the world and supplies the majority of physical bookstores and libraries in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. When your print book is available through IngramSpark at an appropriate wholesale discount, libraries can order it through their standard Ingram account.

The wholesale discount matters. Libraries and bookstores typically require a 55 percent discount off the retail price to order through Ingram. If you set a lower discount, most libraries will not be able to order your book through their normal purchasing process. Setting 55 percent means your royalty per copy will be modest, but the reach is significantly wider.

IngramSpark also supplies print books to Baker and Taylor, another major library distributor used by thousands of public libraries. Being on IngramSpark effectively means being available to buy through both Ingram and Baker and Taylor.

Bibliotheca

Bibliotheca is a library technology platform that supplies ebooks to libraries in the UK, Australia, and parts of Europe. If you are targeting UK or Australian library readers, Bibliotheca is worth reaching. Draft2Digital includes Bibliotheca in their distribution network for ebooks and audiobooks.

How Library Buyers Discover Books

Getting your book technically available through these platforms is the first step. The second step is being discovered by library buyers who decide what to actually purchase.

Library acquisitions librarians typically discover new titles through publishers catalogs, wholesale distributor recommendations, reader requests, review publications such as Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly, and general awareness of what readers in their community are interested in.

For independent authors, the most reliable path to proactive library purchasing is reader requests. When library patrons request a title through the Suggest a Purchase feature that most libraries offer, acquisitions librarians treat those requests seriously. A few dozen genuine reader requests through library suggest-a-purchase systems across a target region can generate real library sales.

You can encourage your existing readers to request your book at their local libraries. This is one of the most effective and underused library marketing tactics available to independent authors.

The Revenue Case for Library Distribution

Library distribution is not going to replace your Amazon sales. But it is an additional revenue stream that requires almost no ongoing effort once it is set up. A book available on OverDrive and Hoopla across thousands of libraries earns royalties every month with no advertising spend required.

Library readers also buy books. A reader who borrows your book from a library and loves it will often buy their own copy, buy your backlist, and recommend you to other readers. Library visibility feeds into broader word-of-mouth in ways that paid advertising typically does not.

If your book is not in libraries, you are leaving a consistent, low-effort revenue stream on the table. The setup takes a few hours. The returns compound over years.