You know that feeling: you finish a good book and you just have to talk about it with someone. It’s one of the reasons why Book Clubs have become extremely popular. Now, as eBooks are available from public libraries, readers are joining the next chapter of Book Clubs, Digital Book Clubs to discuss the next great read.

Public libraries across the country are hosting and promoting a digital version of a local Book Club with simultaneous access to eBooks and audiobooks, enabling dozens of “city read” and “one-book, one community” programs.

According to BookBrowse, 22 percent of readers belong to at least one digital Book Club with friends and family (Book Clubs in the USA, July 2015).

Meet OverDrive

OverDrive is maximizing the scalability of digital by supporting citywide and global digital book clubs through public libraries.

New York Public Library is using their eBook collection for the Gracie Book Club where First Lady Chirlane McCray will collaborate with authors to select six books to read and discuss with fellow New Yorkers over the next year. The first book, Bright Lines (Penguin Random House) will be discussed by the city of New York on Tuesday, May 17^th.

Last month, OverDrive helped Cityread London (UK) go digital by working with Canongate to offer Ten Days in eBook format to participating libraries in London for the April 2016 program. Additionally, OverDrive works with publishers and thousands of libraries and schools three times a year for Big Library Read, a global Digital Book Club that connects millions of readers around the world with the same eBook from their local library. These programs have reached thousands in the communities they serve and have increased visibility, reach and engagement for the selected digital book.

Publishers are capitalizing on this growing trend by working with libraries to put authors’ works in the hands of more readers — digitally. To enable the discovery and readership of popular content and maximize the number of readers served, libraries are taking advantage of publishers’ flexible digital access models on OverDrive.

Meet Self-E (powered by Library Journal)

Also, as we reported last year, Self-E, an innovative collaboration between Library Journal and BiblioBoard, enables authors and libraries to work together to expose notable self-published ebooks to readers. If selected via Library Journal’s SELF-e curation process, the author’s ebooks become part of a unique discovery platform for participating public libraries across the United States that enables patrons to read ebooks on any device, at any time.

The free service is available to all self-published authors, no matter which self-publishing service(s) they use. Porter Anderson tell you how in this in this great article, Is Your Self-Published Ebook in the Library?

However you “get ‘er done,” digital book clubs offer a powerful marketing opportunity for authors and publishers. Promoting an eBook or audiobook to traditional Book Clubs puts that book in the hands of new readers and helps publishers and authors engage and cultivate loyalty among a base of readers.

Says OverDrive, “Public libraries across the globe have built engaging campaigns to promote these successful Digital Book Clubs, including dedicated websites, organized group discussions and even special author appearances, which are helping publishers and authors expand discovery and reach and engage more readers.”

Meet YOUR Local Librarian!

Most important, authors should maintain a close connection with the libraries in their own markets. Collaborating with them for readings and signings (engage a local bookseller to sell books at the library) can be a great way to spread early news of your book in the community.

Begin with the library closest to you and “fan out” from there. Use our free State-By-State Library listings to get you started. (There are tabs for each state across the bottom of the doc; click on your state and get to work!) Use the success of one library event to create interest and buzz for the next one, and so on…

Have a library success story to share about your own book? Please add your thoughts to the comments below!