The Beginning
In December 2006 ListenAlaska was launched for the library patrons of thirteen Alaskan libraries in part by federal grant funds through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Alaska State Library. Alaskan libraries were among the first group of libraries in the nation to sign up for OverDrive’s (the eBook and audiobook vendor) shared digital library collection.
New Name
In October 2015 partner libraries decided to change the name to the Alaska Digital Library (AlaskaDigitalLibrary.net). Today, participating libraries pay annually for service licensing and collection purchases. The Alaska Digital Library is administered by the Alaska Library Network on behalf of partner libraries.
Now…
There are nearly 60 Alaska libraries participating in the Alaska Digital Library with almost 40,000 titles, 27,000 unique patrons, and over 725,000 circulations (2021).