Modernizing Library Processes with Libby

Discovery Phase

In an effort to better understand the current state of Libby, I conducted in-depth research and interviews analyzing Libby’s competitors, users, and business strategy.

I started by doing a competitive analysis and found that while the ebook market is crowded, it’s dominated by Overdrive, Libby’s parent company. Many of its direct competitors, like Hoopla, lack basic usability needs and are dated compared to Libby – which is likely why Libby is the preferred digital lending app amongst libraries. However, looking at Libby’s indirect competitors, like Amazon that aren’t free, Libby lacks the ability to access titles on demand due to its lending model – a common frustration later revealed amongst users during user interviews.

Overdrive creates revenue from libraries purchasing lending rights through publishers. Overdrive breaks down costs for titles as follows:

• One copy per user: Similar to a physical library, one digital copy of a book is only available to one patron at a time. If multiple patrons want the same book a hold list is created. Libby utilizes this model the majority of the time.

• Metered Access: Book titles end within a certain number of checkouts or time period, as determined by the publisher. For example, a HarperCollin’s titles expire after 24 checkouts, or 24 months, whichever comes first.

• Cost per circ: Titles can be borrowed by multiple users at a time, until budget runs out or users have reached their monthly limit of checkouts.

• Simultaneous use: Unlimited amount of copies from specific publishers.

User Interviews

After having a better understanding of Libby’s business model and competitors, I interviewed 21 participants who fit into two user types: Library Patron and Library employee. I asked questions about what features they used, when and how they used them, and what they would change. These interviews uncovered the following problems: