A friend pointed this out:

Between the print and audio versions, my library has 86 copies of Fifty Shades of Grey with 596 holds! I’m sure a lot of bestsellers get this kind of interest, but this is the first time I’ve actually seen the traffic a library gets for a highly desirable item. Let’s say the library is buying those 64 paperbacks and 22 audiobooks today (I’ll use Amazon for ease and familiarity and omit shipping costs), that would come to $1288.98. If the 596 patrons were to buy the book on Amazon, it would cost them collectively $7833.32.

Where would we be without the public library allowing us to read trashy romance novels, and everything else under the sun, for the nominal fee of an occasional tax levy?