Listening Books

What Listening Books does

Listening Books is a UK registered charity (charity no. 264221, founded 1959) that lends audiobooks to individuals aged 7+ whose illness, mental health condition, physical disability, or learning disability (including dyslexia) prevents them from reading print or holding a physical book, and to schools, hospices and care homes serving these cohorts. The core offering is a subscription membership providing streaming and downloadable access to over 11,000 audiobook titles, with membership priced at £25/year for individuals and £125/year for school memberships covering 10 pupil logins; free memberships are available for those unable to pay, with the charity explicitly stating that membership covers less than 30% of true service cost, the balance being subsidised by charitable grants and donations.

The technical delivery stack is built on third-party platform integrations rather than proprietary infrastructure: audiobook lending is delivered through OverDrive (and its consumer app Libby), periodicals are delivered through PressReader, and the charity operates a small in-house audio production capability — the Sound Learning studios — that produces curriculum-aligned educational audiobooks for KS2 through A-Levels. Distribution is omnichannel UK-domestic, combining self-serve website/app access for individuals and a direct sales motion for schools, hospices, and care homes, with two education channel partners (emPSN and LGfL - The National Grid for Learning) extending school reach. Customer-acquisition channels are content-led: a regular blog, an active Instagram and Twitter presence, the in-house podcast (originally branded Voluminous, launched 2018), a twice-yearly email newsletter, author Q&A events, and community partnerships with disability and mental-health organisations.

The business model is a hybrid of subsidised subscription revenue, gift memberships, donations, and grants from a roster of named charitable funders (The National Lottery Community Fund, World of Books Foundation, SC Johnson, Smurfit Kappa Foundation, Sovereign Health Care Charitable Trust, The Noble Charitable Trust, The Ridley Godfrey Foundation). Operational scale is small (11-50 employees, single London headquarters, UK-only), governance is via trustees with Stephen Fry as Patron, and the organisation holds Approved Activity Provider status for The Duke of Edinburgh's Award for youth members aged 14-25.

Name

Listening Books

Legal name

Listening Books

Website

https://listening-books.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1959

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Listening Books is a UK registered charity that lends audiobooks to individuals aged 7+ with print disabilities — dyslexia, visual impairment, chronic illness, mental health conditions, and physical challenges — and to schools, hospices, and care homes, via subsidised annual memberships augmented by grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Accessible Audiobook Lending

NAICS

Record Production and Distribution (51225)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Library & Education Audiobook Distribution (Public Libraries, Schools, Academic) (MPAJAIAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Audiobook & Spoken-Word Streaming Platforms (MPAIADAE), Library, Reading Motivation & Independent Reading Programs (EDAMAJAO)

Keywords

• Audiobook lending
• Accessible reading
• Charity membership
• Digital library
• Educational audiobooks

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Membership Subscriptions: Annual subscription model providing access to over 11,000 audiobooks plus newspapers and magazines. Membership costs £25 per year for individuals, with free membership available for those who cannot afford the fee due to charitable funding support
2. School Membership Subscriptions: Institutional subscription at £125 per year for 10 pupil logins, with additional free login on renewal. Includes teacher dashboard and curriculum-aligned content
3. Gift Memberships: One-time purchase of annual memberships as gifts for friends or relatives, sold at the standard individual membership rate
4. Donations and Grants: Charitable funding from trusts, companies, and individual donors subsidises membership costs and enables free memberships for those in need. National Lottery Community Fund awarded £15,000 grant for catalogue expansion

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Listening Books is a UK registered charity that lends audiobooks to individuals whose illness, mental health condition, physical disability, or learning disability (such as dyslexia) prevents them from reading print or holding a physical book. Members access over 11,000 audiobooks and thousands of newspapers and magazines through the charity's website and the Libby app for an annual subscription of £25 for individuals or £125 for school memberships. The charity also produces its own educational audiobooks through in-house Sound Learning studios and supports curriculum-aligned reading for KS2 through GCSE and A-Level.

Product overview

Listening Books is a UK audiobook lending charity offering a unified membership service for individuals with print impairments. The core offering is the audiobook lending service with over 11,000 titles, supplemented by PressReader for newspapers and magazines, The Listening Books Club for community engagement, and The Listening Books Podcast (Voluminous) for extended content. School memberships add a dedicated teacher dashboard with curriculum-aligned resources. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award partnership and gift membership options expand accessibility. All services are accessible via the Libby app and website streaming.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Audiobook Lending Service UK audiobook lending service providing streaming and downloadable audiobooks for adults and children aged 7+ with print impairments. Offers over 11,000 titles spanning fiction and non-fiction across multiple genres, accessible via the website and the Libby app.
• Individual Membership Annual membership subscription at £25 per year providing individual access to the full audiobook collection, newspapers, magazines, and other member benefits. Free membership is available for those unable to afford the fee.
• School Membership Annual institutional subscription priced at £125 per year covering 10 pupil logins. Includes teacher dashboard with resources, age controls, user history tracking, curriculum-aligned content (KS2 through GCSEs and A-Levels), and PressReader access.
• Gift Membership One-time purchase of annual memberships available as gifts for friends or relatives, sold at the standard individual membership rate (£25). Can be applied for by telephone, email, or post.
• The Listening Books Club Monthly book club feature for members, showcasing selected audiobooks including a Book of the Month. Provides community engagement through recommended reading lists and member discussions.
• Sound Learning Educational Audiobooks In-house produced educational audiobooks recorded at the charity's Sound Learning studios, supporting curriculum-aligned titles for younger members and those studying GCSE and A-Levels.
• PressReader Newspapers and Magazines Access Membership benefit providing access to thousands of newspapers, magazines, and comics from around the world, updated daily via PressReader. Included in individual and school memberships at no additional cost.

Quantifiable outcome

• 96% of members said access to audiobooks has increased their feelings of wellbeing
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• SNR AudiominorGTM or Marketing Partner · 19 August 2025SNR Audio donated over 30 audiobooks to Listening Books' catalogue, including classics by Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, E.M. Forster, ghost story collections by M.R. James, Edgar Allan Poe, and Mary Shelley, and detective stories including Josephine Tey's Inspector Alan Grant books. SNR Audio has been shortlisted for two Audies and twice hit #1 on Audible.
• OverDrivecoreTechnology or IntegrationOverDrive provides the audiobook streaming platform technology that powers Listening Books' digital lending service. Members access audiobooks through the Libby app, which is powered by OverDrive infrastructure.
• PressReadercoreTechnology or IntegrationPressReader partnership provides members with access to thousands of newspapers and magazines from around the world, updated daily, included as part of membership at no additional cost.
• Royal Voluntary Service (Virtual Village Hall)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListening Books partners with the Royal Voluntary Service's Virtual Village Hall to provide author Q&A sessions as part of the Ask the Author series, supporting mental wellbeing through literature and author engagement.
• emPSN (Education Network)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributoremPSN supports schools in accessing Listening Books membership, acting as an educational network partner for reaching schools.
• LGfL - The National Grid for LearningminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLondon Grid for Learning partnership supports schools in London and the surrounding area to access Listening Books membership for students.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• BookBeat: BookBeat is a European audiobook streaming subscription service operating across multiple European markets with a sizable catalog—comparable to Listening Books' streaming delivery model for audiobook access, though commercial and broader in audience.
• RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People): RNIB is the UK's largest charity for blind and partially sighted people, offering broader accessibility services (talking books, transcription, advice) that overlap with Listening Books' audiobook lending for visually impaired members, while operating at significantly greater scale.
• Audible (Amazon): Audible is the dominant commercial audiobook subscription platform in the UK, with a far larger catalog and budget for content acquisition. It competes for any print-disabled user who can afford a subscription and is increasingly adding accessibility features that erode Listening Books' differentiation.
• Storytel: Storytel is a major global audiobook and e-book streaming subscription service present across Europe, with a depth of catalog and mobile streaming delivery model closely paralleling Listening Books' Libby-based streaming service at far larger scale.
• Libro.fm: Libro.fm is an independent audiobook retailer offering DRM-free audiobook purchases and a credit-based subscription model; while commercial rather than charitable, it overlaps in audiobook distribution and competes for accessibility-conscious consumers seeking alternatives to Audible.

Others

• OverDrive: OverDrive is Listening Books' core technology partner (powering the Libby app for member access) and also operates its own library audiobook lending business directly to UK public libraries—making OverDrive both a critical enabler and a competitor in audiobook distribution.

Direct peers

• Calibre Audio: Calibre Audio is a UK charity that lends audiobooks free of charge to people with print disabilities—essentially the same core service, target population, and charity model as Listening Books, making it the closest direct peer.
• RNIB Bookshare: RNIB's accessible reading service provides audio, braille, and large-print books to print-disabled individuals in education, directly overlapping Listening Books' individuals-and-schools segment and UK print-disability mission.
• BorrowBox: BorrowBox is the library audiobook and e-book lending app used by UK public libraries, providing free audiobook access to library members—a directly comparable lending model for audiobooks in the same UK market.

Regional players

• Ulverscroft Large Print Books: Ulverscroft publishes large print, audio, and e-books for libraries and individuals with print difficulties in the UK and Commonwealth markets—an adjacent publishing/distribution peer serving overlapping populations through library channels.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/ListeningBooks
• Instagraminstagram.com/listeningbooks
• Xx.com/ListeningBooks
• Facebookfacebook.com/ListeningBooks12
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/listening-books

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Listening Books