BorrowBox: ‘User experience is everything’

In the lead-up to the 2025 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs), Books+Publishing is in conversation with the event’s major sponsors about the status of the industry, what excites them about the future, and what they have to offer publishers, booksellers and readers. Rebecca Herrmann, BorrowBox founder, spoke with the publication.

This segment is supported by the event sponsors. 

Tell us about BorrowBox. What do you most want people to know about what you do?

BorrowBox (BBX), your library in one app, is a download solution that we at Bolinda created to help public libraries and schools navigate the digital shift. After 13 years in business, we made the historical milestone of being available in 100% of libraries in Australia, 95% of libraries in New Zealand, and 95% of libraries in the United Kingdom; the entire country of Ireland successfully runs the BorrowBox app. In 2025, we will launch in our CEO and BBX founder’s home country of Germany, in addition to Austria and Switzerland. When we launched the app, we only offered audiobooks, but have now expanded to ebooks, emagazines and enewspapers. It is one of the only apps in the world where all of these formats are in one app. It’s such a valuable digital resource to local community libraries.

Tell us an interesting fact that book industry folks don’t know about your company. 

We are an independent, Australian-owned business, created from our audiobook company, Bolinda Audio, which was founded over 30 years ago. The BorrowBox library app is often #2 in apps in the world for ebooks and audiobooks. We decided early on in our business, being from Australia (that country far, far away from New York and London), that we needed to make a product and service that our local library customers valued; we also understood the impact we could have on promoting Australian and New Zealand authors and stories to the world. While we navigate international markets, our local customer is what makes us tick.

User experience isn’t often labelled as such in the book sector, but is at the core of bookselling and libraries. What are some of the key elements of user experience that you’ve learned?

User experience is everything – being a library app, we needed to create a solution for library users that spanned childhood through to old age. We have successfully done that, and we are always guided by our business’s principles: Designed to be simple. Made to inspire.

What makes a good app?

One that is simple to use and gives customers the content that they want. The amazing thing about the BorrowBox app is that you can read and listen all in the app. It’s an excellent user experience, and it’s easy.

Ebooks are a cornerstone of the book sector, but to say that audiobooks have gone mainstream is an understatement. Why do you think their popularity has exploded?

Ah, having being at this for the last 30 years, you cannot imagine how many people told me I was crazy pursuing a niche market dream. But honestly, it is really this simple – listening comprehension precedes reading comprehension. We are spoken to for the first five years of our lives. Before we can even walk, we can talk and listen. It is the most natural form of communication, and one that is available to everyone, whether they can read or not. It is the most democratic form of reading and, in a way, a complete counter-culture to the book. Then there are the people who are time poor (and have no time to read or want to read more), so they listen while they do other things – exercising, doing housework, on the morning commute. Then there are the time rich who seek companionship. An audiobook is the perfect companion, far better than watching Netflix, and the audiobook category catalogue is far deeper.

Australia Reads just released a report about Australian readers. What advice do you have for the sector in terms of reaching reluctant readers?

Listen to audiobooks. For such a long time, many people pushed back against the audio category as not being an educational tool and not reading. Well, that’s now all been proven wrong – and kids who listen have a larger vocabulary and better communication skills (written and verbal) than those who don’t.

What do you think the next five years hold for the book sector in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand?

I think there will be a period of consolidation, but that will open new opportunities for other smaller start-up publishers. Australia and New Zealand have discovered some of the world’s most successful writers, and it’s important as an industry that we continue to discover more of them by publishing local stories more than ever. This is critical to our culture and to our children’s future – we want our children to grow up reading more and more Australian and New Zealand stories. I really see this as a critical part of everything we all do as an industry.

What book from Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand have you most recently enjoyed?

I am a big listener, and I’ve just devoured all of Bolinda’s re-recorded Kate Morton titles, narrated by Daisy Head, Anna Skellern, Louise Brealey and Emilia Fox. All 6 stars from me. And Alan Duff’s What Becomes of the Broken Hearted, the sequel to Once Were Warriors.

The Australian Book Industry Awards are presented for achievements in bringing Australian books to readers. This year marks the event’s 25th anniversary.

Books+Publishing is the Australian book sector’s number-one source for news, opinions, pre-publication reviews, jobs, and advertisements.

Category: ABIA