Public libraries reveal their most borrowed books of 2023
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Public libraries around the country have put together lists of books most borrowed by readers in 2023. NPR's Neda Ulaby tells us more.
NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: Let's start with the country's biggest library.
EMILY PULLEN: Hi there. I'm Emily Pullen. I'm the manager of reader services for the New York Public Library. We had "Lessons In Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus as our No. 1 checkout.
ULABY: The novel tells the story of a chemist in the early 1960s who's dismissed because of her gender. She ends up hosting a cooking show.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) We're live in five, four...
ULABY: It was made into a series on Apple TV+.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY")
BRIE LARSON: (As Elizabeth Zott) Welcome, viewers. This is "Supper At Six."
ULABY: "Lessons In Chemistry" was also the most borrowed book at public libraries in Seattle, Boston and Cleveland. However, in Topeka, Kan., it was not even on the top 10. Readers there preferred mysteries, thrillers and what's getting called romantasy.
DEB LAMBERT: Romantasy is this new phrase that they've come up with for romance and fantasy.
ULABY: Deb Lambert directs collections at the Indianapolis Public Library. She says romantasy is big there, too, with books like "Fourth Wing" by Rebecca Yarros. It was also among the most borrowed in Charleston, S.C., and Louisville, Ken., thanks in part to fan videos on TikTok.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: They have to be endgame, right? They have to be. Their dragons have mated.
ULABY: Not every library lists its most borrowed books, and there's no big list from, say, the American Library Association. Most borrowed, says Deb Lambert, can get sliced into fiction, nonfiction, young adult, audio.
LAMBERT: And also whether it was an e-book or a physical book.
ULABY: The No. 1 most borrowed book in 2023 nationally on the app Libby was a memoir.
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIOBOOK, "SPARE")
PRINCE HARRY: Once upon a time, this was going to be my forever home.
ULABY: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, reading from "Spare" about his former estate.
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIOBOOK, "SPARE")
PRINCE HARRY: When my wife and I fled this place in fear for our sanity and physical safety, I wasn't sure when I'd ever come back.
ULABY: Library users have turned not just to e-books but e-magazines. Deb Lambert says their rise in popularity is dramatic.
LAMBERT: Our New Yorker e-magazine was actually the most checked out title of everything online.
ULABY: In 2023 in Indianapolis, The New Yorker was bigger than "Spare," bigger than "Lessons In Chemistry."
LAMBERT: By a pretty good amount. Yep. "Lessons In Chemistry" had a total of 6,300 checkouts, and New Yorker magazine was 6,800 checkouts.
ULABY: There's an important function to these most-borrowed lists, librarians say. They remind us there's something wonderful to read every year for everyone. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF JEAN CARNE SONG, "MY MYSTIC LIFE")
Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.