A large share of American audiobook listening happens through public library apps rather than through purchases. That channel shaped the format's growth and continues to shape its economics.
Libraries removed the price barrier first
Audiobooks were expensive when they were sold on physical media, and libraries were where most people first tried a full-length recorded book without committing money to it.
When lending moved to phone apps the friction disappeared entirely, and a listener could start a title in the time it takes to open an application.
That combination of free and immediate converted a large number of casual readers into regular listeners, which is what built the audience the format now has.
Holds queues teach a different reading habit
Popular titles carry long waits, so borrowers place holds on many books at once and read whatever becomes available rather than what they intended to read next.
This makes library listeners unusually willing to try authors they did not choose deliberately, which benefits backlist and midlist titles considerably.
It also spreads demand across time, since a book keeps circulating for months after its release rather than concentrating in a launch week.
Licensing terms are the contested point
Libraries do not buy digital audiobooks outright in the way they buy physical copies. They license them under terms that limit the number of loans or the length of access.
Publishers argue that frictionless free lending displaces sales, while libraries argue that the terms make budgets unpredictable and reduce what they can offer.
The dispute is ongoing and is conducted in contracts rather than in public, but its outcome determines what appears in a local catalog.
Budgets decide the catalog
A library system's digital spending is finite, so buying more copies of a heavily requested title means buying fewer distinct titles overall.
Collection staff balance those pressures continuously, and the resulting catalog reflects local demand and local funding rather than any national selection.
Consortium arrangements let smaller systems pool purchasing, which is why neighboring towns often show the same collection with different waiting times.
Discovery flows back into sales
Listeners who find an author through a library frequently buy that author's later books rather than waiting, particularly when a series is involved.
Publishers see this pattern and continue supplying the channel despite the licensing disputes, because the borrowing audience is also a buying audience.
The relationship is contested over terms rather than over whether it should exist, which is why the negotiations recur without either side withdrawing.