Hold On: Wait Times in Libby, Part 2

I’m back to continue answering the question, “Why is my wait time in Libby so long?”! If you haven’t read my first post on the topic, which covers basic background information, you might want to take a minute to give it a read: Hold On: Wait Times in Libby, Part 1

Long Wait? Blame the Prices, Not the Users

Before I share the data on the currently popular metered access license title that I know you’ve been dying to see revealed, I’d like to quickly address an issue that pops up often in our comments on social media.  That issue is a concern about non-Harris County residents obtaining cards through online registration and using those cards for access to our Libby collection.  

Please be assured that we understand your concern and have been monitoring digital account creation. In addition to that, in early February, software will be implemented that should close any remaining loopholes when creating digital accounts. Harris County Public Library’s service population is 2.2 million people, but the number of unique users of our Libby collection is currently just over 270,000. That’s about an eighth of our service population.  I say all this to show that yes, the number of users has an impact, but the major drivers of our wait times are the rising cost of the items in our collection and the amount of money in the library budget. Those two things are, unfortunately, out of our control. 

Holds Ratios 

If you’ve ever wondered about the method to our eBook ordering madness, this blog post should help! We typically place orders for digital titles on Tuesdays, which is the day of the week that most new books are released. With the new “notify me” feature in Libby, we can estimate the popularity of a given title and decide how many copies of a title to purchase. Later in the week, we buy additional copies to bring wait times down within the limits of our budget.  

A holds ratio, the number of holds divided by the number of copies we currently have licensed, is a guide we use in determining how many extra copies to add. So, if we have one copy with five holds, that’s a 5:1 holds ratio. It’s also an estimated 10-week wait based on our two-week checkout period. We are very happy when we can bring titles down to a 5:1 holds ratio. Unfortunately, it’s rare that we can afford to make that happen. 

When I’m determining how many extra copies to add, one of the most important factors I consider is price, followed closely by license type. One of the licensing models that often brings me the most pain is the metered access by time model (24 months) because it’s typically expensive ($35-$130) and can lead to a very low return on investment. This means I can’t financially justify adding as many copies as I can for a more favorable license type, such as metered access by checkout, or one copy/one user. Customer service-focused Laura and fiscally responsible Laura are constantly at war with each other when working on lowering holds ratios. 

Making the Money Stretch

So how does price truly come into play with metered access by time? If everyone who checks out a title under the 24-month license keeps it for the full 2-week checkout, that means it can circulate at most 52 times over those 24 months. The higher the price for that license, the higher our cost-per-checkout. The lower the cost-per-checkout is, the better the return on investment. I’m happiest when that cost-per-checkout is under $1. 

When a title with the metered access by time (24 months) license is priced over $60, that’s already over $1 per checkout even if it circulates all 52 times.  Adding a copy brings the wait time down but drives the cost-per-checkout up. A holds ratio of 14 (14 people per license) is where our cost-per-checkout starts coming in as close to $1 as we can get it. At two weeks per checkout, that’s a 28-week wait, which is just over 6 months! Yikes.  

Many publishers have continued to raise the prices they charge libraries, but our budget hasn’t increased. This means, even though it’s painful for customer service-oriented Laura, on most titles I can only afford a holds ratio of 20 (a 40-week wait!).  

Library Prices vs Consumer Prices

The audiobook edition for Bethany Joy Lenz’ Dinner for Vampires has 765 active holds. The price we are charged for a 24-month license is $69.99. Over the months since this title’s release on 10/22/2024, we have purchased 38 licenses, which brings the holds ratio to just over 20 (40 weeks/license) and it cost us $2,659.62 to get it there. That same audiobook would cost between $17-27 for you to purchase a personal copy from one of the major online bookstores. That means those same 38 licenses would cost $646-$1,026 AND you’d get to keep all 38 of them!  

New titles from authors James Patterson and David Baldacci tend to be priced at $75 per license for eBook and $65-$79.99 for audiobook.  Those are at least lengthier adult titles, but unfortunately, prices for some kids' titles have been on the rise as well. Brandon Sanderson’s 48-page picture book, The Most Boring Book Ever, is currently listed at $60 for a 24-month license. Since its release in late September, we’ve added 18 licenses ($1,080). That same title is sold to the general public for $11.99 through online eBook retailers.  

Some publishers offer a choice between a 24-month license and a lower-priced 12-month license for the same title. This does help to bring those holds down at a lower cost when a title is newly released or experiencing a surge in popularity, so we’re very grateful for access to that option.  

Don't Stop Reading!

I’m hopeful this is starting to clear up some of the fog around Libby wait times. Keep placing those holds, checking out those titles and stay tuned for the next article in this series!