In a year that brought profound change, New Yorkers relied on books offering perspective, comfort, and hope, according to the top checkouts of 2020, released today by the City’s three library systems.
Brooklyn Public Library, The New York Public Library (which serves the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island), and Queens Public Library have each released their top 10 checkouts of 2020, and the City’s most borrowed books reflect the historic challenges that have impacted New Yorkers during 2020, including a global pandemic, unprecedented isolation, issues of social justice, and a country divided.
The top checkout in Brooklyn was How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. The top title in The New York Public Library system was The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. The most borrowed book in Queens was The Guardians by John Grisham. Well-loved titles Becoming by Michelle Obama, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, and Educated by Tara Westover were popular selections by patrons from across the City and appeared on all three lists.
The top titles were primarily borrowed digitally, as physical library branches were temporarily closed from March to July to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. All three systems invested in strengthening e-book offerings to continue serving New Yorkers during this difficult chapter.
Source: Jonathan Blanc / NYPL
The New York Public Library system, for example, saw over 100,000 first-time users of its e-reader SimplyE from March 16 (the date it temporarily closed) through November.
In addition to investing in actual copies of e-books, the library systems offered reading recommendation lists, virtual public programs, and other offerings to support New Yorkers throughout the year that impacted the list. For example:
Several books on all three lists were featured on The New York Public Library’s Black Liberation Reading List, curated by its Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem with the goal of celebrating and fostering a better understanding of the Black experience.
The New York Public Library’s top title and several others on the list–The Vanishing Half, The Glass Hotel, and The Nickel Boys (also on the Black Liberation Reading List) — were part of its virtual book club with WNYC, which brought New Yorkers “together” around reading even during a period of unprecedented isolation.
QPL this year introduced a new app that allows users to not only sign up for e-cards, and hold, reserve, and renew materials, but also read, listen to, and watch content without leaving the app, and driving more people to its e-collection.
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Throughout 2020, the three library systems suspended late fines for books; the systems have decided to extend fine-free borrowing through at least June 2021.
The top checkouts in 2020 for each system (including e-book checkouts as well as physical checkouts when branches began to reopen in July for grab-and-go service) are:
Brooklyn Public Library:
How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
Normal People: A Novel by Sally Rooney
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Educated by Tara Westover
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
The Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehead
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The New York Public Library (which includes the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island):
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
The Glass Hotel: A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Dutch House: A Novel by Ann Patchett
The Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehead
Educated by Tara Westover
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Normal People: A Novel by Sally Rooney
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
Queens Public Library:
The Guardians by John Grisham
Moral Compass by Danielle Steel
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Lost by James Patterson and James O. Born
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci
Educated by Tara Westover
Criss Cross by James Patterson
Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel by Celeste Ng
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
“New Yorkers always read for a multitude of different reasons. This year, with their City in crisis, it’s clear based on the top checkouts that they leaned on books in a variety of ways to get them through our City’s most difficult chapter in recent memory,” said Lynn Lobash, NYPL’s Assistant Director of Read Services. “Some longed for an escape through great literature or inspiring memoirs. Others wanted to become more informed about current events, particularly issues around social justice that sparked global protests and heated discussion. Still others wanted to read alongside thousands of fellow New Yorkers to feel a connection, a sense of togetherness while we were apart. Books and stories are so powerful, and this year, we hope the most borrowed titles made a positive impact on a City coping with so much.”
In addition to the most borrowed books overall, The New York Public Library system also released the top titles in a number of genres, including the top checkout for kids, teens, and Spanish-language books:
Children: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (also the top children’s title at the Queens and Brooklyn Public Libraries in 2020, and featured on NYPL’s Top Checkouts of All Time list, released in January to mark the system’s 125th anniversary)
Teens: American Royals by Katharine McGee
Classics: 1984 by George Orwell
Comics and Graphic Novels: The Handmaid’s Tale (Graphic novel) by Margaret Atwood
Sci-Fi/Fantasy: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Horror: If it Bleeds by Stephen King
Mystery and Detective: The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Romance: The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Spanish Language: Tierra Americana (American Dirt) by Jeanine Cummins
The number one teen title on QPL’s list is The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com. Gary is also the co-founder of infoDJ an innovation research consultancy supporting corporate product and business model teams with just-in-time fact and insight finding.
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In a year that brought profound change, New Yorkers relied on books offering perspective, comfort, and hope, according to the top checkouts of 2020, released today by the City’s three library systems.
