Wilson tops decade as most borrowed author
12.02.10 | Benedicte Page - The Bookseller

Children’s books, romantic fiction and crime/thrillers have been the enduring ­staples of the nation’s public library borrowing over the past decade, according to statistics from the Public Lending Right (PLR).

Prolific writer Jacqueline Wilson tops the league as the UK’s most borrowed author of the Noughties, clocking up over 16 million public library loans between 1999 and 2009.

Wilson’s The Story of Tracy Beaker was the most borrowed title of the decade, closely followed by J K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Meanwhile, second and third in the author popularity league are the equally prolific Danielle Steel and Catherine Cookson, who both had more than 14 million loans of their titles across the Noughties. Cookson’s novels The Thursday Friend, The Blind Years and The Lady on My Left were the three most borrowed adult fiction titles of the past decade, each borrowed over 300,000 times.

The top 10 library authors provide a contrast to the top 10 bestselling authors of the decade, led by J K Rowling (over 27 million sales), Dan Brown (over 13 million sales) and Mr Men creator Roger Hargreaves (over 11 million).

In non-fiction, meanwhile, the decade’s most borrowed cookery book is Delia’s How to Cook: Book One, while Dave ­Pelzer’s A Child Called It tops biography, Alan Tichmarsh’s How to be a Gardener: Book Two heads in gardening, and Antony Beevor’s Berlin: The Downfall 1945 leads in history. Bill Bryson features twice: with most borrowed travel book (Down Under) and most borrowed science book (A Short History of Nearly Everything). Dickie Bird’s White Cap and Bails is the most borrowed sports biography of the decade.

Most borrowed authors 1999-2009
1 Jacqueline Wilson > 16 million
2 Danielle Steel > 14 million
3 Catherine Cookson > 14 million
4 Josephine Cox > 13 million
5 James Patterson > 11 million
6 RL Stine > 10 million
7 Mick Inkpen > 10 million
8 Janet & Allan Ahlberg > 9 million
9 Roald Dahl > 8 million
10 Agatha Christie > 8 million
Total number borrowed: 118,281,613
Source: PLR data

Bestselling authors (2000 to 2009)
1 J K Rowling >27 million
2 Dan Brown >13 million
3 Roger Hargreaves >11 million
4 Jacqueline Wilson >11 million
5 Richard Parsons > 9 million
6 Terry Pratchett > 8 million
7 John Grisham > 8 million
8 Danielle Steel > 7 million
9 James Patterson > 7 million
10 Jamie Oliver > 7 million

Total books sold: 112,025,816
Source: Nielsen BookScan


Patterson crowned most borrowed author for third year running

12.02.10 | also from Benedicte Page in The Bookseller

Thriller writer James Patterson was the UK’s most borrowed author for the third year running in 2008–09, according to figures released today by the Public Lending Right (PLR).

Patterson’s books were taken out by library users more than 1.8 million times between July 2008 and June 2009, an increase on his total (more than 1.4 million) for 2007–08.

Daisy Meadows (the team behind Rainbow Magic) was the second most borrowed author brand, with over 1.3 million loans in 2008–09, with third-in-line Jacqueline Wilson also topping 1.3 million loans last year. Francesca Simon and Nora Roberts both had their books borrowed over 1 million times last year.

In a top 10 titles list dominated by crime and thrillers, Patterson’s novel Sail (Century) was the most borrowed book, taken out nearly 84,000 times. The most borrowed children’s fiction title, Francesca Simon’s Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend (Orion Children’s), was borrowed nearly 65,000 times. Delia Smith’s Delia’s How to Cheat at Cooking (Ebury) was the most borrowed non-fiction title, clocking up 29,700 library loans.

Audiobooks and some e-books may join the PLR scheme this year.