Because of how electronic book licensing works for libraries, most eBooks are purchased for a set time period or for a set number of loans. When a book's license expires, you can still see the item listed in the collection until we manually renew our license or remove it.
We carefully consider each title before deletion. We look at several factors, such as its popularity, most recent checkout, number of current holds by BPL members (not partner library members), and how many total checkouts it had during the license period.
If we decide not to repurchase a license for it, the item will disappear from the collection, including your holds list.
Even though the item is no longer available through BPL’s OverDrive, we share collections with five other libraries, and one of those libraries is likely to own a copy that you can borrow. You can also use our Suggest a Title form to ask us to consider repurchasing a title.
And remember: When a hold disappears, you have an opportunity to place a hold on another item! The maximum number of eBook holds allowed at any one time is 20.