CHILDREN are Ireland's
top book borrowers with titles for kids dominating
loans from public libraries across the country
including Donegal last year.
The country's youngsters had wimpy kids, awful
aunties and demon dentists on their minds with
novels by children's authors Jeff Kinney and David
Walliams among the favourites in 2016.
Britain's Got Talent judge Walliams, who first
entered the Irish most-borrowed list in 2014, had no
fewer than five titles in last year's Top 20.
They include 'Demon Dentist' at number five; 'Awful
Auntie' at number eight; 'Ratburger' at number 14;
'The Boy in the Dress at number 18 and 'Mr Stink' at
number 19.
The most borrowed title from the country 336 public
libraries last year was 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard
Luck' by American author Jeff Kinney.
This was followed, in second place, by the
psychological thriller 'Girl on a Train' by English
writer Paula Hawkins.
Third place was taken by 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid:
Cabin Fever'.
Meanwhile, the Easter Rising Centenary celebrations
last year was reflected in the huge popularity at
libraries of 'The Guns of Easter'. The book, by
Wexford author Gerard Whelan, was the fourth most
borrowed title at Irish libraries in 2016.
The One City One Book choice for 2016 - WWI love
story 'Fallen' by Lia Mills - was also highly placed
at number 12.
The figures were compiled by Libraries Development
at the Local Government Management Agency using data
from the Public Lending Remuneration (PLR) scheme.
They show that children's writers also dominate the
'most-borrowed author' list at libraries with only
one adult fiction author, James Patterson, making
the Top 10
The list was topped by Daisy Meadows followed by
consistent chart-topper Roderick Hunt. Hunt who has
created more than 400 titles in the Oxford Reading
Tree series, has previously seen some 160,000 of his
books checked out annually in Ireland.
The top five last year was completed by children's
authors Roger Hargreaves, Francesca Simon and Julia
Donaldson. Jeff Kinney and David Walliams are at
number 12 and number 14, respectively, in the
most-borrowed author rankings. Harry Potter novelist
J.K Rowling ranked number 16 last year.
Top 10 Most Borrowed Titles in Irish Public
Libraries
1. Diary of a wimpy kid: Hard luck Jeff Kinney
2. The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins
3. Diary of a wimpy kid: Cabin fever Jeff Kinney
4. The guns of Easter Gerard Whelan
5. Demon dentist David Walliams
6. Diary of a wimpy kid: Dog days Jeff Kinney
7. Diary of a wimpy kid Jeff Kinney
8. Awful auntie David Walliams
9. Diary of a wimpy kid: Old school Jeff Kinney
10. Diary of a wimpy kid: The long haul Jeff Kinney
Top 10 Most Borrowed Authors in Irish Public
Libraries
1. Daisy Meadows
2. Roderick Hunt
3. Roger Hargreaves
4. Francesca Simon
5. Julia Donaldson
6. Enid Blyton
7. Jacqueline Wilson
8. Adam Blade
9. James Patterson
10. Roald Dahl |
