What did Canadians borrow in March?

What did Canadians borrow in March before practicing physical distancing? @BookNet_Canada has the answer.
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Like Canadians coast to coast, we here at BookNet are practicing physical distancing — which means some of us are reading more than usual — and our loans data from LibraryData indicates that we’re not alone! Between the week ending March 8th and the week ending March 15th, library loans increased over 19% as readers stocked up on books for March Break and beyond.

Loans of Juvenile titles grew over 15%, Fiction grew 26%, and Non-Fiction grew 11%. Young Adult titles saw the most significant increase in loans, with over 50% growth between March 8th and March 15th.

Top 10 most-loaned titles leading up to March Break

1. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey

2. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

3. The Dork Diaries Series by Rachel Renee Russell

4. Blue Moon by Lee Child

5. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

6. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 🇨🇦

7. The Guardians by John Grisham

8. A Better Man by Louise Penny 🇨🇦

9. Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell 🇨🇦

10. The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

Top 10 most-loaned Canadian titles leading up to March Break

1. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 🇨🇦

2. A Better Man by Louise Penny 🇨🇦

3. Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell 🇨🇦

4. The Innocents by Michael Crummey 🇨🇦

5. Reproduction by Ian Williams 🇨🇦

6. Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny 🇨🇦

7. Akin by Emma Donoghue 🇨🇦

8. From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle 🇨🇦

9. Many Rivers to Cross by Peter Robinson 🇨🇦

10. Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay 🇨🇦

We know what everyone’s reading now, but which titles are Canadians most anticipating when their local libraries reopen? Let’s take a look at the titles with the highest number of holds on March 22, 2020.

Top 10 most-held titles as of March 22, 2020:

1. Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell 🇨🇦

2. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

3. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

4. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

5. The Body by Bill Bryson

6. From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle 🇨🇦

7. Successful Aging by Daniel J. Levitin 🇨🇦

8. Educated by Tara Westover

9. The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

10. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Top 10 most-held Canadian titles as of March 22, 2020:

1. Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell 🇨🇦

2. From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle 🇨🇦

3. Successful Aging by Daniel J. Levitin 🇨🇦

4. Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey 🇨🇦

5. Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown 🇨🇦

6. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 🇨🇦

7. The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel 🇨🇦

8. The Innocents by Michael Crummey 🇨🇦

9. Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Coles 🇨🇦

10. Reproduction by Ian Williams 🇨🇦

If you're interested in more information on LibraryData, check out our TechForum presentation on What’s New in LibraryData! And if you're a library that's interested in our LibraryData project, find out how you can start sending us your circulation data!