Audiobooks are more popular than ever, owing in part to publishers' practice of releasing audio versions simultaneously with book releases. LJ's recent audiobook survey shows that circulation for adult audiobooks has jumped 13.5% in two years, while the figure for children's audiobooks has risen 10.7%. Budgets for adult audiobooks went up 6.1% this year, while budgets for children's audiobooks rose 4.8%. Audiobook spending, however, remains stable when seen in the context of overall media spending. Audiobooks represent 38% of library media budgets. However, the overall fiscal picture libraries face has impacted audio-books, and those surveyed expect their budgets for audio to increase only 2% in the next fiscal year. There's clearly demand; in a separate survey of 250 libraries, conducted by Recorded Books, 56% of respondents said au-diobook spending is about right, but 41% said spending is too low.
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