How Do Authors Get Their Book Checked Out By Libraries?

 

 

The library market in America is huge. There are over 16,000 individual public library buildings — as well as over another 100,000 libraries in public and private schools — and universities and colleges. There are additional libraries at government agencies, the military, prisons, private foundations, law firms and businesses, museums, and private institutions, etc.  

How do you get public libraries to carry your book?  

You can donate a copy and ask them to put it into circulation or you can sell them a copy. For them to buy it, they purchase from certain wholesalers and distributors. Your book should be listed with one or more of them, including: 

* Baker & Taylor

* Ingram Spark

* PublishDrive

* Draft2Digital

* Publishers Group West

* Smashwords 

What influences a librarian to buy a book? 

They take into account the following: 

* Quantity and quality of book reviews, especially reviews in Library Journal, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews — and to a lesser degree, Foreword and Publishers Weekly

* Book awards quantity and quality

* Author’s resume/website 

* Author’s connection to the area

* If your book fulfills a local interest/need

* If your book serves that community’s patron profile

* Cost of your book

* Availability of your book (via a wholesaler/distributor)

* How it fares within your genre

* If it is a bestseller

* Who published it 

Whom should you contact? 

The acquisitions librarian. Many individual libraries fall under a singular library system. For instance, the Boston Public Library consists of 26 branches and a headquarters. You may have to contact just the main branch — or you may need to contact individual ones. It depends on how a particular library system likes to function.  

Which organization sets library standards? 

The American Library Association is a big resource and advocate for libraries (www.ala.org). The Library of Congress (www.loc.gov) is a big player, too. It is the largest library in the world, with scores of millions of books, films and video, audio recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. 

What information do libraries need? 

* Short description of the book/genre and why that branch should want/or need it

* Book reviews

* Pub Data, such as: title/subtitle, ISBN, format, pages, price, publisher/wholesaler, author name, publication date, and book cover. 

Libraries want to buy a lot of books but space, budget, price, staffing, and competing titles all will factor in to what they will purchase. Reach out to a lot of libraries and hope that some will say yes. The vast majority will decline the opportunity or just ignore you. That is okay. Just get out there and take the wins that you can get. 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 4.25 million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/