Did you ever wonder what book titles library patrons take most often? The New York Public Library, one of the largest library systems in the nation just released the list of the titles that were requested and checked out most.
From their press release:
The New York Public Library has compiled the top books checked out in 2015 from its 92 branches in The Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island.
Leaving Time, a psychological thriller by bestselling author Jodi Picoult, led the 2015 list, followed by Paula Hawkins’s debut mystery novel The Girl on the Train and Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman, the much-anticipated follow-up to the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
The Library also released the top 10 books checked out from each of the three boroughs it serves, along with the top title at each of its circulating libraries. While the top system-wide books list includes e-titles, the top books per branch do not.
The Girl on the Train took the top spot in Manhattan, NYPD Red 3 by Marshall Karp and James Patterson was number one in Staten Island, and TASC: Test Assessing Secondary Completion: Strategies, Practice, & Review, a study guide for high school equivalency exams published by Kaplan Publishing, narrowly beat out NYPD Red 3 in The Bronx.
Individual branches saw a wide variety of books checked out the most, from Henry A. Clumpton’s The Art of Intelligence Lessons from a Life in the CIA’s Clandestine Service at City Island Library in the Bronx, to Prodigal Son by Danielle Steel at South Beach Library in Staten Island.
“The variety of books on these lists shows the depth and breadth of our circulating collections, as well as the various ways in which our patrons interact with us and our materials,” said Christopher Platt, the Vice President of Library Services at NYPL. “Whether they are improving their circumstances by checking out test prep books or picking up best sellers for their commutes, New Yorkers need, love and use their local libraries.”
Over 20 million items, including books, are circulated throughout the NYPL system each year. Opportunities to check out items will be even greater in 2016, when hours expand at branches across the system thanks to a $43 million city funding increase for New York’s three public library systems: NYPL, Brooklyn Public Library, and Queens Library. Check out nypl.org for new hours, which go live on Jan. 4.
Top 10 Books Systemwide
- Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
- The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
- Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
- NYPD Red 3 by Marshall Karp and James Patterson
- Prodigal Son by Danielle Steel
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
- Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham
- In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume
- The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
- Grey by E. L. James
