2024’s Must-Read Gems: The Most Borrowed Books from Public Libraries!

A woman examines books in a library in 2024.

Magali Cohen/AFPAFP via Getty Images

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Magali Cohen/AFPAFP via Getty Images

Among the most borrowed books in public libraries nationwide in 2024, you will find Kristin Hannah’s The Women, Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing, and Emily Henry’s Happy Place.

These works made it onto the year-end summary lists from various public libraries in New York City, Cincinnati, Seattle, and other locations.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin, was the top-circulated adult book in New York City and the second-most favored adult fiction title in Denver. In Denver, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store took the lead; this novel by James McBride also featured in the most-circulated lists at libraries in San Francisco, Westport, Conn, and Louisville, Ky.

Other favored titles in 2024 encompassed Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, Think Twice by Harlan Coben, and Camino Ghost by John Grisham. A notable non-fiction title from 2024 was The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Eric Larson.

NPR reviewed the most-borrowed lists from 18 public libraries nationwide. Not all libraries disclose their year-end circulation figures, and there is no comprehensive list provided by the American Library Association. Certain libraries released only their five or ten top-borrowed books in total; others categorized the year’s most popular loans into fiction, non-fiction, children’s literature, and additional categories.

Libby, the application utilized by libraries to offer e-books, audiobooks, and magazines, has yet to unveil its data for 2024.

Several 2024 novels were also popular in 2023

While a number of 2024’s leading titles are fresh, an examination of the selections indicated a notable amount of overlap with numerous most-borrowed lists from 2023, such as Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, and the memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy.

“I believe individuals are seeking something that provides them with a little solace,” noted Roosevelt Weeks, director of the Fort Bend County library system in Texas. He highlighted the novel James, by Percival Everett, as a standout book he particularly appreciated this year. It was listed among the most-borrowed titles in public libraries in Broome County, N.Y. and Boston’s Codman Square branch.

However, Quinn McQueen, marketing and communications director for the City Library in Salt Lake City, mentioned that users of public libraries occasionally have to wait for popular e-books and audiobooks.

“At times, libraries can lag a bit,” she commented. “We endeavor to acquire as many books as we are able.”

Some publishers, as she pointed out, limit the number of in-demand e-books that libraries may obtain during their first year of release. Moreover, even after acquiring an e-book, they sometimes necessitate ongoing payments based on the frequency of check-outs. “Thus, that can deplete our budget fairly rapidly,” she stated.

McQueen mentioned that one of her library’s most-borrowed non-fiction books this year and last year was Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, published in 2013.

“I just completed it, and I highly recommend it,” she added. “[Kimmerer] possesses her PhD in botany and is also an indigenous woman and a poet. What’s particularly fascinating is the way it reflects people’s yearning to connect with our natural environment, seeking a way to coexist harmoniously with nature and to show kindness and appreciation. So that one is truly engaging and remarkable.”

Braiding Sweetgrass also made an appearance on this year’s most-borrowed lists at public libraries in San Francisco, Seattle, and Amherst, Mass.

Year-end lists are enjoyable to analyze, but it’s crucial to maintain perspective, remarked Brian Bannon, the Meryl and James Tisch Director at the New York Public Library. He manages the 88 local branches of the country’s largest library network.

“Although we issued our top ten, not one of these titles accounted for more than 1% of our total circulation,” he stated. “When you genuinely examine what individuals read in New York City, it wasn’t as if 20% of our audience was solely engaged with these titles. It’s merely 1%. There remains a fascination with a wide variety of topics in the city, encompassing numerous other genres: poetry, history, diverse forms of fiction. To me, that’s quite encouraging that we’re not solely influenced by what happens to be trendy or what is entering mainstream media, but rather that people are actively pursuing their own interests and discovering what they cherish at the library.”

And should you be curious, the most-borrowed poetry compilation in 2024 at the New York Public Library was Ocean Vuong’s Time Is A Mother, centered on the theme of parental loss and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For those in search of your next read, feel free to visit Books We Love. Our platform features over 4,000 recommended works from the previous 12 years.