NPR's Neda Ulaby scanned the most-borrowed-books lists of 2024 from several public libraries across U.S. to see what library-goers were reading throughout the year. The selections are a mix of new titles and some older favorites.
Some of the most checked-out new books in the 18 public libraries that Ulaby reviewed include Kristin Hannah's “The Women,” Rebecca Yarros' “Fourth Wing,” and Emily Henry's “Happy Place,” all of which landed on the year-end lists of New York Public Library (NYPL), Cincinnati and Hamilton County (Ohio) Public Library, and Seattle Public Library. “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” by Gabrielle Zevin, was the most checked-out adult book in New York City and the second-most popular adult fiction book at Denver Public Library (DPL). James McBride’s “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store” was number one at DPL and also made the most-borrowed lists at libraries in San Francisco Public Library, Westport (Conn.) Library, and Louisville (Ky.) Free Public Library.
Other popular books last year included “Tom Lake” by Ann Patchett, “Think Twice” by Harlan Coben, and “Camino Ghost” by John Grisham. One of the most-borrowed non-fiction titles from 2024 was "The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War” by Eric Larson.
Ulaby found a number of repeats of books that also appeared on most-borrowed lists in 2023, including “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros, “The Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese, “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus, “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas, and “I'm Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy.
These year-end lists are fun to review, but perspective is vital. Brian Bannon, the Meryl and James Tisch Director at NYPL, explained it to Ulaby.
"Even though we published our top 10, none of these books made up more than 1% of our overall circulation," Bannon said. "When you actually look at what people read in New York City, it wasn't like 20% of our audience were only reading these books. It's only 1%. There is still interest in a broad range of subject areas in the city, a lot of other genres: poetry, history, different types of fiction. To me, that's actually really heartening that we're not just driven by what happens to be popular or what's making its way into the mainstream media, but people are actually tracking their own interests and finding what they love at the library."
What did you check out last year at the library? Let us know at pmorehart@ala.org for a future report.
Phil Morehart is editor of I Love Libraries and host of the "How I Library" podcast.
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