cloudLibrary has two types of content: titles purchased by librarians and pay-per-use titles. There is no difference in the way these are displayed in cloudLibrary.
Many newer bestsellers, scholarly titles and specialized books must be purchased, and each copy purchased may only be checked out by one user at a time, so there is often a waiting list. Like physical books, the library often buys multiple copies of cloudLibrary titles when there is high demand.
The library regularly purchases newly released popular eContent for cloudLibrary. AHML cardholders may request unowned titles either in cloudLibrary itself or by using the online purchase suggestion form. Library copies of digital materials often cost more than retail editions, and publishers sometimes limit the number of checkouts, requiring the library purchase it again if we want to keep the title in our collection. This means that we may buy fewer copies of more expensive popular titles, or we may opt not to purchase specialized titles with limited appeal if the cost is prohibitive.
Not all content listed in cloudLibrary has been purchased by AHML. The collection also includes more than 400,000 pay-per-use titles. The library has not purchased these titles, it only pays a small fee each time an item is checked out. AHML is also part of cloudLink, a small group of area libraries that share purchased cloudLibrary titles when they are not in use by the owning library, giving cardholders access to more titles and extra copies and often reducing wait times on holds.
Only titles purchased by AHML are listed in the library’s online catalog; pay-per-use and cloudLink titles are not. To see everything currently available, it’s best to search in cloudLibrary itself.