You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Thriller-giant James Patterson tops the league of the most borrowed authors in libraries for a second year running in the latest Public Lending Right (PLR) figures, covering the year to June 2008. Patterson maintained his lead with a total of more than 1.5 million library loans, with Jacqueline Wilson, Daisy Meadows and Nora Roberts also clocking up loans above the one million mark.
The UK's most borrowed title was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J K Rowling, with a total of 108,775 loans. The title was also the most borrowed children's title with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in second place, followed by Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend (51,087 loans).
Richard & Judy Book Club recommendations featured heavily in the lists of most borrowed titles, led by Kate Morton's The House at Riverton (84,550 loans), but the PLR agency said its data revealed that the couple are far more important to readers across the South of England than elsewhere. It said library borrowers in the north and in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are less interested in Richard & Judy recommendations and keener on crime, thrillers and romantic fiction by authors like Patterson, Lee Child, Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel.
Miranda McKearney, director of The Reading Agency (TRA), which organises library authority participation in the Richard & Judy Book Club, said that further research was needed to prove regional bias. She said: "Library authorities' local decisions about the number of copies of titles they stock and how they promote them may account for some regional variations in the apparent popularity of Richard & Judy titles."
The PLR scheme celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Agency head Jim Parker said discussions were still ongoing regarding recommendations to culture secretary Andy Burnham on modernising the scheme to extend beyond the printed book and on simplifying the PLR.
Most Borrowed Fiction Titles
Kate Morton The House at Riverton Pan
Kim Edwards The Memory Keeper's Daughter Viking
Simon Kernick Relentless Corgi
Mary Lawson The Other Side of the Bridge Vintage
James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge The Quickie Headline
James Patterson and Maxine Paetro The Sixth Target Headline
Mark Mills The Savage Garden HarperCollins
James Patterson Cross Headline
James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge Step on a Crack Headline
Michael Connelly The Overlook Orion
Most Borrowed Non-Fiction Titles
James Martin The Meaning of the 21st Century Eden Project
Griff Rhys Jones Semi-Detached Penguin
Bill Bryson The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid Doubleday
Tim Butcher Blood River Vintage
Peter Kay The Sound of Laughter Century
Richard Dawkins The God Delusion Bantam Press
Christine Padelsky Mind Over Mood Guilford Press
Helen Kennerley Overcoming Anxiety Robinson
Paul Gilbert Overcoming Depression Robinson
Home Office Life in the United Kingdom TSO
Most Borrowed Authors (adult fiction)
James Patterson
Nora Roberts
Josephine Cox
Danielle Steel
Ian Rankin
Katie Flynn
Alexander McCall Smith
Anna Jacobs
Agatha Christie
Bernard Cornwell
Most Borrowed Authors (children's authors)
Jacqueline Wilson
Daisy Meadows
Francesca Simon
Mick Inkpen
Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Ian Whybrow
Julia Donaldson
Enid Blyton
Lauren Child
Roald Dahl