Children's authors amongst the most borrowed

Every year, authors are paid "Public Lending Right" - a fee based on how many times their books are borrowed from libraries. This year's statistics have just been released and 5 children's authors are in the top ten. They are Daisy Meadows, Jacqueline Wilson, Francesca Simon, Julia Donaldson and Mick Inkpen. Read the press release here. The most borrowed author overall in the last ten years is Jacqueline Wilson who commented: “The PLR data clearly shows that many children still love borrowing books. That’s why we need our excellent libraries, so that all children can have free access to a huge variety of books.”

The press release goes on to say: "The crucial role libraries play in encouraging children to read is also confirmed by the latest figures from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) which show that children’s borrowing from UK libraries has risen for the past seven years. 96.8 million children’s books were borrowed during 2010/11, up from 89.9 million in 2005/6. Children’s books now represent 35.9% of all books borrowed, up from 33.9% last year."

This is excellent timing for National Libraries Day which takes place tomorrow. Support it by visiting your local library and borrowing as many books as you can!

Children's authors dominate list of favourite UK library books

For more than 20 years the Public Lending Right organisation, which organises the small royalty payments to living authors for books borrowed from public libraries, has compiled an annual list of the most borrowed books. The list is dominated by children's books -  for example, Jacqueline Wilson books have been borrowed at least a million times every year between 2000 and 2010. Authors whose books we stock are listed below with their position on the list and a link to their books on our catalogue. Read the full story in the Guardian.


4. Jacqueline Wilson - best known for almost everything she writes! Maybe the Tracy Beaker books which were televised. A former Children's Laureate.

5. Francesca Simon - best known for the Horrid Henry series.

6. Mick Inkpen - best known for picture books about Kipper the dog.

7. Julia Donaldson - best known for the Gruffalo. Enough said!

9. Lauren Child - best known for Charlie and Lola, picture book characters who have also made it onto TV.

10. Terry Deary - best known as author of the Horrid Histories series, but also writes fiction.

Most borrowed children's books in Scotland

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's Tiddler is the most borrowed children's book in Scotland according to the latest Public Lending Right figures for library loans. The same authors' Stick Man came in at number 6 and the only other children's book on the list was Jacqueline Wilson's My sister Jodie. Full details on the SLAINTE and BBC websites, plus coverage in most newspapers, e.g. The Guardian.

The most borrowed children's authors

Figures released by Public Lending Right show that Jacqueline Wilson is still the most borrowed children's author in Britain's libraries, beaten into second place overall by adult author James Patterson. However, the most borrowed individual title in the last year was the final instalment of Harry Potter. The top ten is dominated by children's authors, highlighted below:

1. James Patterson 2. Jacqueline Wilson 3. Daisy Meadows 4. Nora Roberts 5. Francesca Simon 6. Mick Inkpen 7. Josephine Cox 8. Danielle Steel 9. Janet and Allan Ahlberg 10. Ian Whybrow

For more coverage of this story, see The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, and The Bookseller.

Most borrowed children's authors

After a four year reign as the most borrowed author in the UK's public libraries, Jacqueline Wilson has been beaten into second place by the US thriller writer, James Patterson, according to figures for 2006-7 just released by Public Lending Right. Overall, 30% of all books borrowed were children's, young adult and educational titles and half of the top 20 authors are children's writers. They are:

Jacqueline Wilson (2); Daisy Meadows (3); Mick Inkpen (8); Janet & Allan Ahlberg (9); Francesca Simon (10); Roald Dahl (11); Enid Blyton (13); Ian Whybrow (15); Eric Hill (17); Julia Donaldson (20).

Roald Dahl tops the list of Most Borrowed Classic Authors, which also includes Enid Blyton (2); Beatrix Potter (5); C S Lewis (9) and A A Milne (12).

See our library reading list for more about Jacqueline Wilson's books.