Just Askin': How many books are checked out annually at the Nashville Public Library?
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When it's time to go to the Nashville Public Library, Kimberly Schofinski packs up her 5-year-old and their designated library tote.
The black, wicker basket — slightly bigger than a laundry basket — always elicits a chuckle from the staff, Schofinski said. Sometimes the basket holds up to three dozen books.
"I've got the stacking down to a science to fit as many books as possible," she said. "We are actually outgrowing the tote and I've contemplated using a rolley suitcase, but that may be overboard!"
While Schofinski loves the weight, font, paper thickness and jacket art of a physical book, Lisa Uiberall-Noble prefers the ease of an e-book. Uiberall-Noble is an avid user of Libby, an app that allows user to download e-books with a library card.
"One great thing is that if you finish your book, you can get a new one easily," Uiberall-Noble said. "Sometimes I finish a book in two to three days. The library and 'borrowing' books really allows me to keep going without having to stop and go buy or order a book."
Regardless of their preferences, Schofinski and Uiberall-Noble are two of thousands of people using Nashville's public library system each year. And despite the sizeable number of books they each check out, their numbers only put a small dent in the total titles the library loans out each year.
Question: How many books are checked out from the Nashville library each year?
Short answer: Million. So many millions.
Long answer: We asked the Nashville library for five years of data for physical books and e-book checkouts. Representatives kindly obliged.
The Nashville Public Library tracks check-out volume by Metro's fiscal year, July 1 through June 30. For the last five fiscal years, including the current one, the library has loaned out a total of 12,681,941 print books and 10,993,554 e-media across all 21 branches.
There is one noticeable trend: physical book check-outs exceed e-books. The year the library was closed for COVID is the only exception.
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So what is everyone reading?
It should be no surprise that the Tennessee Queen Dolly Parton topped the list last year with her novel, co-authored with James Patterson, "Run, Rose, Run." More than 1,100 people checked the book out from the Nashville library last year. Laura Dave's
“The Last Thing He Told Me," led e-books with 357 checkouts.
This year, a prince, like the actual Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, leads physical book checkouts with his memoir "Spare."
Laura Dave continues to lead 2023 e-books.
Most sought after titles this year at the Nashville Public Library include:
Print Books
“Spare” by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex: 935 checkouts
“Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus: 760 checkouts
“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin: 682 checkouts
“Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver: 633 checkouts
“The House in the Pines” by Ana Reyes: 513 checkouts
E-Books
“The Last Thing He Told Me” by Laura Dave: 147 checkouts
“It Starts with Us” by Colleen Hoover: 110 checkouts
“Spare” by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex: 110 checkouts
“Book Lovers” by Emily Henry: 108 checkouts
“Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus: 96 checkouts
Staff reporter Kirsten Fiscus can be contacted at kfiscus@gannett.com or on Twitter @KDFiscus
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Check out the Nashville Public Library's most popular book titles
