eBooks for All California
A Shared Collection Will Meet the Need of All California Public Library Users
The California State Library, in partnership with the Black Gold Cooperative Library System, has launched eBooks for All California. Created to equalize access across California, this statewide collection can be accessed by anyone with a California public library card and an internet connection.
Libraries are More Digital Than Ever Before
of U.S. library collections were digital as of 20191
growth in digital circulation from 2019 to 20212
digital checkouts in CA in 2020
The size of eBook collections in California public libraries vary and are dependent on local funding. A library with a robust collection budget can provide hundreds of thousands of eBooks to its community members; a library with very limited funding may offer few or no eBooks.
Always Available eAudiobooks from Blackstone Unlimited Audio
The State Library is pleased to announce that libraries on the eBooks for All project can now provide their patrons with over 3,300 Always Available eAudiobooks. Now any public library can provide their patrons with unlimited access to Death of Prankster by M.C. Beaton or The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix or The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. These titles, along with over 3,300 others, are all available to the California Palace libraries with no waiting, no holds and no limits.
If your library is not on Palace and would like to join the project, please email ebooksforall@library.ca.gov to begin the sign up process. You can join at no onboarding or ongoing costs! Califa’s press release describes the Always Available Unlimited Listens in more detail.
The eBooks for All Summit
The California State Library, working with project partners and other state agencies, has organized two summits on the topic of eBook access for California. Both recordings are available on CALL Academy.
If you are interested in assisting with the 2025 summit, please email the eBooks for All team at ebooksforall@library.ca.gov.
How It Works
Participating public libraries offer their cardholders access to the free, shared statewide collection of eBooks and eAudiobooks, many of which are simultaneous use. Libraries can make their Overdrive, CloudLibrary, and Axis 360 collections available alongside the statewide collection, all in one seamless, searchable app.
Users will no longer have to toggle between different providers to see the breadth of a library’s offerings, instead they can access all through the Palace Project’s eReader app. Libraries can simplify the way their users find their eBooks at the same time as expanding their collection with the statewide catalog of over 40,000 titles and 100,000 licenses.
How to Join
Enrollment in the eBooks for All project is open to all public libraries in California. If you are a library director and would like to join, you may email CAsupport@thepalaceproject.org to get started. From there, the Palace team will contact you with a request for configuration information. Generally, it takes between 1 and 4 weeks to have your library integrated into Palace. Once your library is set up inside the app, you will have the chance to use premade promotional materials to introduce this service to your community at a pace that is best for your library. You can preview these promotional materials and find and engage with other California libraries enrolled in eBooks for All in the Palace Project Community Hub.
If your library is interested in joining the project please email ebooksforall@library.ca.gov. The project partner may be able to assist with any onboarding costs.
We welcome and encourage tribal libraries to join this project. If you are a tribal library representative and are interested in the project, please email the state library at ebooksforall@library.ca.gov. Currently, there is one tribal library involved in the project.
Accessibility
The Palace application uses the Readium Rendering engine. Readium renders underlying EPUB text into Text-to-Speech (TTS) that can be read aloud by screen reader software. Mobile device screen readers such as Voice Over on iOS and TalkBack on Android platforms are compatible with the Readium Rendering engine to make the app more accessible. Mobile device screen readers provide access to text, menus, and navigation within the app to users with print disabilities.
2024/2025 Collection Development Grants
In July of 2024, the State Library awarded collection development grants for libraries to help develop the statewide collection. Nine libraries were awarded grants totaling almost $300,000. When combined with local funds, this new investment in the statewide collection will total more than $350,000 spent on more eBook materials for all of California.
These libraries will develop the collection in alignment with their own collection development policy, and the materials purchased will be available across the state to any library that participates in the program. Materials will be selected to fit a diverse set of project goals.
All projects are meeting together as a cohort to share lessons learned, compare data created by the project, and discuss how to make the shared statewide eBook collection more meaningful for all Californians.
The following libraries are participating in the 2023/2024 collection development grant:
- Butte County Library
- City of Huntington Beach
- Inglewood Public Library
- Oakland Public Library
- Riverside County Library System
- Santa Fe Springs City Library
- Sonoma County Library
- Stanislaus County
- Ventura County Library
2023/2024 Collection Development Grants
The following libraries participated in the collection development grant:
- Beaumont Library District
- Butte County Library
- Huntington Beach Public Library
- Murrieta Public Library
- Oakland Public Library
- Santa Fe Springs City Library
- Sonoma County Library
- Stanislaus County Free Library
- Sutter County Library
Project Impact
participating library jurisdictions
Californians covered by participating libraries
items in the collection
Over 106 libraries have lent an eBook through the eBooks for all project. Overall, eAudiobooks make up more than 60% of circulations. In 2023 and 2024, circulations have grown by an average of 9% every month.
As of April 2024, the top 10 performing libraries in California are:
- Stanislaus County Library
- Ventura County Library
- Huntington Beach Public Library
- Butte County Library
- San Jose Public Library
- Kern County Library
- Sonoma County Library
- City of Orange Public Library
- Merced County Library
- Santa Barbara Library