The top circulated books across Canada

These are the top circulated books across Canada as tracked by @BookNet_Canada's #LibraryData.
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Recently we shared the top bestselling books in Canada region by region. That got us wondering — which titles circulate the most across Canadian libraries? We’re here to bring you an answer to that question, with the help of our LibraryData service.

Since LibraryData was only launched in 2019, we’ll be sharing the top 15 most circulated titles from the last two years — 2020 and 2021. And based on the distribution of libraries that report to LibraryData, we’ll be grouping the top 15 lists below into Western Canada and Eastern Canada.

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Top circulated titles across Canada

Before we break down the top circulated titles into east and west, it’s worth taking a look at the national top circulating titles list.

According to the number of loans, these are the top 15 most circulated titles across Canadian libraries from 2020 to 2021:

Collage of covers of the 15 most-borrowed print books in 2020 and 2021 in Canadian public libraries
  1. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey

  2. Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland

  3. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

  4. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

  5. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

  6. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

  7. All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny 🍁

  8. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

  9. Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild by Dav Pilkey

  10. A Time for Mercy by John Grisham

  11. Blue Moon by Lee Child

  12. Dog Man: Fetch-22 by Dav Pilkey

  13. Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls by Dav Pilkey

  14. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

  15. The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly

Top circulated titles by region

Almost all of the best circulating titles above appear on the top lists for Eastern and Western Canada:

 The only title that didn’t make it onto an individual list was Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild by Dav Pilkey.

And between the national, Eastern Canada, and Western Canada lists, some titles also overlap with Canada’s regional bestseller lists:

  • Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls by Dav Pilkey is also a regional bestseller on seven lists — AB, BC, MB, NB, ON, SK, and overall

  • A Promised Land by Barack Obama is also a regional bestseller on six lists — BC, NB, NS, ON, PE, and overall

  • Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is also a regional bestseller on four lists — NS, ON, PE, and YT

  • American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins is also a regional bestseller on one list – BC

  • Guts by Raina Telgemeier is also a regional bestseller on one list – MB

How did the top titles differ between Western and Eastern Canada?

Check out the full top 15 lists for each region below. Titles that are exclusive to each region’s list are bolded.

Western Canada

Collage of covers of the 15 most-borrowed print books in 2020 and 2021 in Western Canadian public libraries
  1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

  2. Guts by Raina Telgemeier

  3. Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland

  4. Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls by Dav Pilkey

  5. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

  6. Dog Man: Fetch-22 by Dav Pilkey

  7. Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas by Dav Pikley

  8. Blue Moon by Lee Child

  9. The Guardians by John Grisham

  10. Big Nate: Payback Time! by Lincoln Peirce

  11. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

  12. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

  13. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

  14. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey

  15. Dog Man: Grime and Punishment by Dav Pilkey

Eastern Canada

Collage of covers of the 15 most-borrowed print books in 2020 and 2021 in Eastern Canadian public libraries
  1. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

  2. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

  3. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

  4. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

  5. The Guest List by Lucy Foley

  6. The Push by Ashley Audrain 🍁

  7. Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey

  8. A Time for Mercy by John Grisham

  9. All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny 🍁

  10. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

  11. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

  12. The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly

  13. The Sentinel by Lee Child and Andrew Child

  14. The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny 🍁

  15. A Promised Land by Barack Obama

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Happy borrowing!