Interesting story about library e-books and patron holds

What do holds have to do with the cost of digital books?

This may seem surprising, but patron holds are the single biggest factor in rising costs. To maintain reasonable wait times, the Library buys additional licenses of a digital title when patrons place more holds on it. That means that when hundreds of patrons place holds on a single New York Times bestseller, the costs of “buying down the holds” can quickly become astronomical.

In 2023, 62% of the Library’s spending on digital books was used to purchase additional copies to fulfill holds placed on popular titles.