Young readers rule when it comes to library lending

It’s not all about computer games and TV for Irish children as reading continues to be one of their favourite pastimes. Figures released by the Library Council of Ireland show that children’s authors dominated the ‘most-borrowed-from-the-library’ lists in Ireland’s 350 public libraries in 2011. Eight children’s authors made it into the top ten ‘most-borrowed-from-the-library’ list for last year, with Roderick Hunt, author of over 300 titles in the Oxford Reading Tree series, the most popular for the third successive year with over 125,000 library loans. Classic stories continue to delight today’s children with stars such as Enid Blyton, Roger Hargreaves and Roald Dahl in the top ten, alongside Daisy Meadows, Francesca Simon, and Jacqueline Wilson. Adam Blade, author of 60 books in the Beast Quest fantasy series, entered the top 10 for the first time. Darren Shan, author of horror and fantasy books which have sold close to 15 million copies worldwide, is the most popular Irish author for the third year running. The first four books in Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series were the most popular children’s books in libraries in 2011. Kinney’s Wimpy Kid series has sold over 42 million books worldwide and movie versions of the first two books have been released. The lists are compiled by The Library Council from information supplied to the Public Lending Remuneration (PLR) Scheme by all public libraries in Ireland. Under the PLR scheme, payment is made to authors, illustrators, etc. whose books are borrowed from the country’s 350 public libraries. Detailed lists of the most Borrowed Authors and Titles 2011 can be accessed on the PLR website at www.plr.ie