Shetland Library’s ‘most borrowed’ lists for 2020 were a little different to usual, with a large uptake in eBook reading and audiobooks during the pandemic.
Normally the highest loans are among adult fiction and the top spot for ‘physical’ loans in 2020 went to Jojo Moyes’ The Giver of Stars, a novel about packhorse librarians in the USA.
Ann Cleeves, who topped this chart for many years, was second with The Long Call, the first of her new series set in Devon. Other popular authors were Elly Griffiths, Val McDermid, Peter May, Graham Norton and Ian Rankin and there was still a lot of interest in The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting, which is partly set in Shetland.
Most borrowed physical non-fiction book was The Frayed Atlantic Edge by David Gange, the story of his canoe journey from Shetland to Cornwall, which was launched in Shetland Library in 2019. Michelle Obama’s autobiography Becoming was also very popular, as was The Salt Path by Winn Raynor. In fact, when issues of eBooks and eAudiobooks are added these sit at first and second in the non-fiction ranking respectively.
Top local physical book was Spy Fever: The Post Office Affair by Margaret Flaws - perhaps spurred by interest in the closure of Lerwick’s main post office, which was big news early in 2020. This is the extraordinary tale of how all the Post Office staff were locked up during the First World War, suspected of spying.
eBooks made a big difference to Shetland lending too however, and once e-loans are added Marsali Taylor takes first and second place in the Shetland rankings. Marsali had done well with eBook loans for some years.
The Library was completely closed for just over two months due to the 2020 lockdown and then gradually reinstated lending of physical books. There was also a publishing hiatus and the UK’s biggest book wholesaler, Bertrams, went out of business, meaning the library had to set up new contracts before new stock could start coming in again.
The service introduced a second eBook platform, Borrowbox, last summer and invested in extra stock as well as promoting the service heavily. This meant many people of all ages tried eBooks for the first time.
Jeff Kinney and David Walliams again dominated the junior chart but old favourite Harry Potter bested them both thanks to huge audiobook loans. Audiobooks were the big story of the year. Very few are now loaned on CD, but because eAudio can be listened to easily on phones or tablets it has really taken off. Some titles are available on multi-user licences meaning many readers can borrow a title simultaneously.
Overall, the year’s real top titles when combining online loans were:
1. J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – 182 issues, nearly all eAudio
2. Jojo Moyes: The Giver of Stars – 146 issues
3. Marian Keyes: Grown Ups – 100 issues
4. Michelle Obama: Becoming – 95 issues
Demand for physical loans came back very strongly once the Library reopened, and by October 2020 borrowing levels of physical stock was back to pre-lockdown levels. Even now while the Library is operating under extra restrictions again, loans of physical books remain high. Home deliveries alone can account for as many as 800 loans a week.
Karen Fraser, Executive Manager – Library Services, said “Whether online or offline, it is clear that reading is playing a big part in people’s lives during the pandemic.”
Most Borrowed books 2020 (PDF, 0.2Mb)
Most Borrowed eBooks 2020 (PDF, 0.4Mb)