Toronto Public Library logs record number of digital checkouts

Fourteen million — that’s how many digital checkouts the Toronto Public Library logged last year.

It’s a record number for the library, whose e-readership has been steadily increasing year after year. A library spokesperson says they’re on track to hit 100 million lifetime checkouts by April.

“We’re thrilled that our TPL customers have reached this incredible milestone,” Matt Abbott, senior manager of collection development, said in a written statement.

“It reflects something powerful: hundreds of thousands of readers discovering stories and accessing information anytime, anywhere, all for free with their library card," Abbott said.

Over the last five years, the library has seen around a 35 per cent increase in digital checkouts from 2021 to 2025.

Data from OverDrive, the library’s largest e-book, audiobook and magazine collection, shows an increase in all three media formats, with e-books leading the way.

The primary way readers are accessing the OverDrive catalogue is through an app called Libby, which can be accessed on smartphones, tablets, computers and some e-readers.

Oya Darici, an avid reader and founder of Toronto-based book club, Wine About Books, read 47 books last year, and 42 of those were on Libby. She says the ability to read free books anywhere, anytime, has allowed her to read more than ever — and the same can be said for the 250-plus members of her book club.

“I personally used to read like one book a month. Now, I'm reading two to three … and this has been consistent across all of our members,” Darici said.

She says with the cost of living in the city being so high, it's important to her to keep her book club free.

“With Libby also being free, people have access to all the books at their fingertips,” she said. “It's really easy for people to join and then contribute to one of our meetings.”

Librarians still play a key role in digital book-lending, says Andreea Marin, chief librarian of the Robertson Davies Library at Massey College.

She says the shift in literacy throughout history, from academic texts to the advent of the novel and the eventual emergence of internet technology, has only increased the need for the curation of literary works.

“Now we have an abundance of information,” Marin said. “So now, [readers] need a filter. They need someone to help them navigate this landscape with thousands, millions of records.”