1995

A long, long time ago…

Backed by her father, Rebecca launches Bolinda audiobooks, publishing our first audiobook and producing four titles in the first year.

1998

Hello world wide web

We launch our eCommerce
website specifically for libraries, bolindalibrary.com. The website also allows people to order direct on bolinda.com.

2000

Listen up, world

Bolinda takes audiobooks to the world like no other audiobook publisher has done before and offers its digital audiobooks through Audible, US.

2002

Going green

We rebrand. We create a brand mark that can symbolise the global audiobook category. Green represents growth and turning over a new leaf and, as audiobooks go from cassette to CD, we launch our hallmark green spines for the first time on our new range. Green comes to symbolise our innovative spirit throughout the business.

2005

Thinking different

We help to launch iTunes Australia for digital audiobooks in partnership with Audible.

2008

Our alternative phase

We remaster our entire back catalogue to MP3CD and launch to listeners and libraries the same year.

2010

BorrowBox is born. The first fully native app in the world that enables audiobooks to be borrowed via a website and app.

BorrowBox goes live into its first Australian libraries.

2010

2010 Australian Broadcasting Corporation partnership.

In November of the same year, we publish our first three co-branded ABC/Bolinda titles and launch the ABC audiobook catalogue throughout the world.

2012

BorrowBox in Blighty

We take BorrowBox global and enter the UK Library market. Over 90 per cent of UK Libraries, as well as in the Republic of Ireland, run BorrowBox for eBooks and eAudiobooks.

2016

Ruling Britannia

We grow our offering to become the largest, most innovative and most popular audiobook publisher in the UK.

2020

Top of the world, ma!

BorrowBox is one of the world’s top three apps for eBooks and eAudiobooks, boasting 5-star ratings on Google Play and iTunes. An app that rivals consumer brands in ease of use, millions of people use it to access content from their local public libraries via their mobile devices.

The library that never closed

When libraries around the world close their doors during COVID, BorrowBox keeps them open digitally.

Readers turn to their libraries from home in unprecedented numbers, accelerating digital borrowing and demonstrating just how important a library in your pocket can be.

BorrowBox – your library in one app becomes an essential part of the modern public library.

Recognised on the world stage

Bolinda audio receives two finalist nominations at the Audie Awards, one of the world’s leading celebrations of audiobook publishing.

Colombiano is shortlisted for Fiction and Madame Badobedah for Narration by the Author Sophie Dahl, placing Bolinda alongside some of the biggest names in global audio publishing.

2022

Bolinda audio arrives on Spotify

Bolinda audio launches its audiobook catalogue on Spotify, taking our stories into one of the world’s largest consumer audio platforms.

It opens a new chapter in global streaming distribution and gives Bolinda audio access to an entirely new generation of listeners.

2023

One library. One app.

BorrowBox brings eBooks, eAudiobooks, eMagazines and eNewspapers together in one fully native digital library experience.

One app. Four formats. One simple place to read, listen and discover.

It marks an important evolution of BorrowBox from an eBook and audiobook service into a complete digital library experience.

2024

Made in Germany. Launched for Germany.

BorrowBox launches into Germany, Austria and Switzerland at BiblioCon in Hamburg, bringing our digital library platform to German-speaking libraries for the first time.

There is a fitting connection: BorrowBox technology is made in Germany by Bolinda Labs in Darmstadt.

What began as our German technology story now becomes a German library story too.

Exceptional audio production recognised at the ABIAs

Bolinda audio’s specialist audiobook production expertise receives extraordinary recognition at the Australian Book Industry Awards.

In 2024, Bolinda produces four of the six Audiobook of the Year finalists:

The Last Daughter, The Voice to Parliament Handbook, Welcome to Sex and Wifedom.

The recognition reflects decades of specialist expertise in casting, performance direction, adaptation, recording and sound production.

At the same awards, BorrowBox presents the prestigious ABIA Book of the Year, won by The Voice to Parliament Handbook — whose audiobook edition is produced by Bolinda audio.

2025

30 years of Bolinda. 15 years of BorrowBox.

Bolinda celebrates 30 years of storytelling, while BorrowBox marks 15 years of transforming the digital library experience.

What began as an independent audiobook publisher has evolved into a global audio, technology and digital library business.

British Book Awards winner

Bolinda audio wins Audiobook: Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards for Jamie Smart’s Bunny vs Monkey.

The award recognises an ambitious audio adaptation that transforms highly visual storytelling into an immersive listening experience through performance, music and sound design.

It is further recognition of Bolinda’s specialist expertise in understanding what makes a great book become a great audiobook.

A winner at the first Speakies

At the inaugural British Audio Awards — The Speakies — Bolinda audio wins Best Audiobook: Young Adult for Patrick Ness’s Different for Boys.

Bolinda also receives further shortlist recognition, establishing a strong presence at the UK’s new dedicated celebration of audiobook and audio publishing.

Bolinda Originals launches — and goes multilingual

We launch Bolinda Originals, moving beyond traditional audiobook publishing into the creation of original, audio-first intellectual property.

The imprint launches with a collection of original mentoring programs created with global leadership expert Robin Sharma.

We then take the programs beyond English, producing them in German, Hindi, Spanish and French — extending Bolinda Originals to new audiences and building our multilingual audio production capability.

Bolinda audio returns to the ABIA shortlist

Bolinda audio produces two of the six 2025 ABIA Audiobook of the Year finalists:
Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment and Ziggy Ramo’s Human? A Lie That’s Been Killing Us Since 1788.

The result continues Bolinda’s exceptional run of recognition for audiobook production.

BorrowBox again presents the overall ABIA Book of the Year.

2026

ABIA Audiobook of the Year winner

Bolinda audio produces two of the four finalists for the 2026 ABIA Audiobook of the Year: Trent Dalton’s Gravity Let Me Go and Sally Hepworth’s Mad Mabel.

And this time, Bolinda-produced Mad Mabel wins Audiobook of the Year.

Across three consecutive years, Bolinda has produced:
4 of 6 finalists in 2024
2 of 6 finalists in 2025
2 of 4 finalists in 2026 — including the winner

It is powerful recognition of the consistency, craft and specialist production expertise at the heart of Bolinda audio.

Bolinda Originals makes its mark internationally

Less than a year after launch, Bolinda Originals reaches the British Book Awards, with Robin Sharma’s The Deep Magic of Daily Consistency shortlisted for Audiobook: Non-Fiction Book of the Year.

It marks rapid international recognition for Bolinda’s move into original, audio-first publishing.

Bolinda audio launches in German

Bolinda audio launches a dedicated German-language audiobook publishing programme.
For the first time, our publishing business moves beyond English-language audiobooks into the creation and publication of audiobooks specifically for German-speaking listeners.

It completes an important progression:
German technology through Bolinda Labs.
German libraries through BorrowBox.
German-language content through Bolinda audio.

Our relationship with Germany has evolved from technology partnerships to local technology development, library market expansion and now German-language audiobook publishing.

Growing our global publishing ambitions

Bolinda audio continues to expand its international publishing programme, securing major authors and properties including Julian Barnes, Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Ness and Dr James Rouse.

The expansion strengthens Bolinda’s position as a global independent audiobook publisher — acquiring, producing and distributing outstanding audio for audiences around the world.

New possibilities in audio storytelling

Bolinda partners with the Barbara Cartland estate on an extensive programme to bring more than 700 titles to audio.

Using new voice technology, Barbara Cartland’s voice is recreated to personally introduce her stories to listeners.

The stories themselves remain human-led and performed by professional narrators.

It is an innovative combination of technology, heritage and human performance — using new technology to enhance the experience while keeping great narration at the heart of the audiobook.