Which are the most popular titles and authors in UK libraries? And how has the number of people borrowing books changed over the years?
The latest data from the Public Lending Right (PLR), which manages payments to authors, shows the top 100 most borrowed books in the UK in 2012-13. Lee Child's The Affair was the most popular library book in 2012-13 with almost 80,000 loans, knocking the 10th Anniversary by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro from the top spot. A Wanted Man, also by Lee Child, was the second most popular while Fifty Shades of Grey became the third most borrowed book in UK libraries in 2012-13. John Dugdale writes today:
There's something to please almost everyone in Public Lending Right's latest rankings of library borrowings, covering July 2012 to June 2013. Patriots can rejoice in the top three places being unusually captured by British writers, with a double for Lee Child and EL James picking up a much-needed PLR cheque too (6.20p per book borrowed, but capped at £6,600 per author).
Lovers of tradition and continuity will like the fact that James Patterson is the UK's most borrowed author for the seventh year running, scoring 15 entries in the top 100. Champions of children's writing can also point to the "most-borrowed authors" chart, in which six of the top 10 places are taken by children's authors, led by Daisy Meadows, the collective pseudonym of the Rainbow Magic writers.
James Patterson remains the most borrowed author which isn't surprising when you consider he has 15 titles making an appearances in the top 100 most borrowed titles list.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney was the most borrowed children's book in 2012-13 and the popularity of the series is clear with three of the top five borrowed children's books being from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. However, Daisy Meadows (the pseudonym used for the writers of the Rainbow Magic children's series) remains the most borrowed author between July 2012 and June 2013.
The Grufallo by Julia Donaldson - previously number one in the children's fiction charts - was the third most popular in 2012-13.
The Hairy Bikers, aka Dave Myers and Si King, lead the non-fiction table with their book The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight. Clare Balding's My Animals and Other Family follows in second place.
The data from PLR shows the most popular library books in 2012-13 by category and region (you can find the full data in the downloadable spreadsheet). The regional breakdown makes for an interesting read:
• Titles from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series proved most popular in the East Midlands, London and the West Midlands
• Fifty Shades of Grey was the most loaned library book in the East
• Lee Child's A Wanted Man proved most popular both in the North East and in Wales
• Children's book Shark in the Dark! was number one in the North West and Merseyside
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry hit the top spot in Northern Ireland
• The Affair by Lee Child was top of library loans in Scotland
• The Real Katie Lavender by Erica James was number one in the South East
• I Love You, Blue Kangaroo! was the most popular title in the South West
• Hilary Mantel's Man Booker Prize winning novel Bring Up the Bodies was top of the list in Yorkshire and the Humber
Data on the total number of library loans by year, published by the the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, shows a decline in the number of people borrowing books from UK libraries.
Data from the PLR can be found in the downloadable spreadsheet and includes most borrowed titles and authors as well as all the regional breakdowns.
Data summary
| Rank | Title | Contributor | Publisher | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The affair | Lee Child | Bantam | 2011 |
| 2 | A wanted man | Lee Child | Bantam | 2012 |
| 3 | Fifty shades of grey | by EL James | Arrow | 2012 |
| 4 | 11th hour | James Patterson and Maxine Paetro | Century | 2012 |
| 5 | The last straw | by Jeff Kinney | Puffin | 2009 |
| 6 | Diary of a wimpy kid | by Jeff Kinney | Puffin | 2008 |
| 7 | Guilty wives | by James Patterson | Century | 2012 |
| 8 | Bring up the bodies | Hilary Mantel | Fourth Estate | 2012 |
| 9 | I, Michael Bennett | James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge | Century | 2012 |
| 10 | The Casual vacancy | JK Rowling | Little Brown | 2012 |
| 11 | The Gruffalo | Julia Donaldson ; illustrated by Axel Scheffler | Macmillan Children's | 1999 |
| 12 | Criminal | Karin Slaughter | Century | 2012 |
| 13 | Zero day | David Baldacci | Pan | 2012 |
| 14 | The drop | Michael Connelly | Orion | 2011 |
| 15 | Rodrick rules | Jeff Kinney | Puffin | 2008 |
| 16 | Kill me if you can | James Patterson and Marshall Karp | Century | 2011 |
| 17 | Don't blink | James Patterson & Howard Roughan | Arrow Books | 2011 |
| 18 | Stay close | Harlan Coben | Orion | 2012 |
| 19 | Aliens love underpants! | Claire Freedman and Ben Cort | Simon & Schuster Childre> | 2007 |
| 20 | Last to die | Tess Gerritsen | Bantam | 2012 |
| 21 | Fifty shades darker | by EL James | Arrow | 2012 |
| 22 | Fifty shades freed | by EL James | Arrow | 2012 |
| 23 | The innocent | David Baldacci | Macmillan | 2012 |
| 24 | The sixth man | David Baldacci | Pan Books | 2011 |
| 25 | The impossible dead | Ian Rankin | Orion | 2011 |
| 26 | Me before you | Jojo Moyes | Penguin | 2012 |
| 27 | The impossible dead | Ian Rankin | Orion | 2012 |
| 28 | Zoo | James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge | Century | 2012 |
| 29 | Three letters | Josephine Cox | HarperCollins | 2012 |
| 30 | Private : no. 1 suspect | James Patterson | Century | 2012 |
| 31 | Private games | James Patterson and Mark Sullivan | Century | 2012 |
| 32 | Dog days | by Jeff Kinney | Puffin | 2010 |
| 33 | The litigators | John Grisham | Hodder & Stoughton | 2011 |
| 34 | Worth dying for | Lee Child | Bantam Books | 2011 |
| 35 | Cabin fever | by Jeff Kinney | Puffin | 2011 |
| 36 | Watching the dark | Peter Robinson | Hodder & Stoughton | 2012 |
| 37 | Rush of blood | Mark Billingham | Little Brown | 2012 |
| 38 | NYPD Red | James Patterson | Century | 2012 |
| 39 | The sins of the father | Jeffrey Archer | Macmillan | 2012 |
| 40 | The affair | Lee Child | Bantam | 2012 |
| 41 | The life | Martina Cole | Headline | 2012 |
| 42 | No turning back | Susan Lewis | Arrow | 2012 |
| 43 | The soldier's wife | Joanna Trollope | Doubleday | 2012 |
| 44 | Zero day | David Baldacci | Macmillan | 2011 |
| 45 | XO | Jeffery Deaver | Hodder & Stoughton | 2012 |
| 46 | The innocent | David Baldacci | Pan | 2012 |
| 47 | Backlash | Lynda La Plante | Simon & Schuster | 2012 |
| 48 | Bones are forever | by Kathy Reichs | William Heinemann | 2012 |
| 49 | The help | Kathryn Stockett | Fig Tree | 2010 |
| 50 | A devil is waiting | Jack Higgins | HarperCollins | 2012 |
| 51 | The accident | Linwood Barclay | Orion | 2012 |
| 52 | The silent girl | Tess Gerritsen | Bantam | 2011 |
| 53 | Phantom | Jo Nesbo ; translated by Don Bartlett | Harvill Secker | 2012 |
| 54 | The real Katie Lavender | Erica James | Orion | 2012 |
| 55 | The silent girl | Tess Gerritsen | Bantam | 2012 |
| 56 | The fifth witness | Michael Connelly | Orion | 2011 |
| 57 | The snail and the whale | Julia Donaldson: ill Axel Scheffler | Macmillan Children's | 2003 |
| 58 | The promise | Lesley Pearse | Michael Joseph | 2012 |
| 59 | The litigators | John Grisham | Hodder | 2012 |
| 60 | Summer of love | Katie Fforde | Arrow | 2012 |
| 61 | Blood line | Lynda La Plante | Simon & Schuster | 2012 |
| 62 | A walk in the park | by Jill Mansell | Headline Review | 2012 |
| 63 | The faithless | Martina Cole | Headline | 2012 |
| 64 | The racketeer | John Grisham | Hodder & Stoughton | 2012 |
| 65 | Red mist | Patricia Cornwell | Sphere | 2012 |
| 66 | Now you see her | by James Patterson | Century | 2011 |
| 67 | I am not sleepy and I will not go to bed | Lauren Child | Orchard | 2007 |
| 68 | The promise | Lesley Pearse | Michael Joseph | 2012 |
| 69 | The ugly truth | by Jeff Kinney | Puffin | 2012 |
| 70 | The black box | Michael Connelly | Orion | 2012 |
| 71 | Standing in another man's grave | Ian Rankin | Orion | 2012 |
| 72 | Live wire | Harlan Coben | Orion | 2012 |
| 73 | Kill Alex Cross | James Patterson | Arrow | 2012 |
| 74 | Worth dying for | by Lee Child | Bantam | 2010 |
| 75 | Private London | James Patterson and Mark Pearson | Arrow | 2012 |
| 76 | Before the poison | Peter Robinson | Hodder | 2012 |
| 77 | Midnight | Josephine Cox | Harper | 2011 |
| 78 | A week in winter | by Maeve Binchy | Orion | 2012 |
| 79 | 61 hours | Lee Child | Bantam | 2010 |
| 80 | Before I go to sleep | SJ Watson | Black Swan | 2012 |
| 81 | Merry Christmas, Alex Cross | James Patterson | Century | 2012 |
| 82 | Winnie's midnight dragon | Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul | Oxford University Press | 2007 |
| 83 | Friends forever | by Danielle Steel | Bantam | 2012 |
| 84 | We're going on a bear hunt | Michael Rosen + ill Helen Oxenbury | Walker | 1989 |
| 85 | Not dead yet | Peter James | Macmillan | 2012 |
| 86 | Where the wild things are | story and pictures Maurice Sendak | Red Fox | 2000 |
| 87 | I've got your number | Sophie Kinsella | Bantam | 2012 |
| 88 | Tick tock | James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge | Arrow | 2011 |
| 89 | Private games | James Patterson and Mark Sullivan | Arrow Books | 2012 |
| 90 | Owl babies. | Martin Waddell, Patrick Benson | Walker | 1992 |
| 91 | Sing you home | Jodi Picoult | Hodder & Stoughton | 2012 |
| 92 | Blue Monday | Nicci French | Penguin Books | 2012 |
| 93 | The time of my life | Cecelia Ahern | Harper | 2012 |
| 94 | Only time will tell | Jeffrey Archer | Pan Books | 2011 |
| 95 | Yew Tree Gardens | Anna Jacobs | Allison & Busby | 2012 |
| 96 | Chocolate shoes and wedding blues | Trisha Ashley | Avon | 2012 |
| 97 | Cinderella sister | by Dilly Court | Arrow | 2011 |
| 98 | The witness | Nora Roberts | Piatkus | 2012 |
| 99 | Red mist | Patricia Cornwell | Little Brown | 2011 |
| 100 | The fear index | Robert Harris | Arrow | 2012 |
Download the data
• DATA: download the full spreadsheet
• SOURCE: PLR
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