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Tyee Books

Books British Columbians Love to Borrow

From Fort Nelson to Sechelt, titles topping library lists plumbed the human experience (including plumbing). What do you recommend?

Shannon Smart 17 Jan 2011TheTyee.ca

Shannon Smart writes for The Tyee and others.
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What's in the pile?

In late December, we asked the Vancouver Public Library to tell us which books were the most frequently borrowed in 2010. Among the titles that topped the city's charts were all three books in the popular Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, and two books from Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. The rest of the list included a Sue Grafton mystery, Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, and two Canadian titles: Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood and B.C. writer Annabel Lyon's The Golden Mean.

Outside, the Olympics transformed the city into something between a college keg party and Disneyland's "It's a Small World" ride, bike lanes (and road rage) expanded in the downtown core, and Justin Bieber took the west coast by storm. Inside, safe amongst the VPL's tall, sturdy, stacks, Vancouver readers were absorbed in stories of love struck teenage vampires, sexy Swedish computer hackers, and cryptic puzzles in the topsy-turvy tradition of The Da Vinci Code.

In a year that also included a devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the international scandal of Wikileaks, Vancouverites were looking for escapist entertainment and a little Gladwell-approved guidance.

This led us to start thinking about what the most popular books were in other parts of the province, and what they might reveal about the concerns and interests of B.C.'s farther-flung communities. We asked librarians from all over British Columbia to help us compile the most-borrowed book data from last year for their communities.

Save for a few blockbuster favourites, we're happy to report that the lists are all quite different. There's plenty of local talent, literary prize-winners, and even some manga. Read on to find out what books were the most popular of 2010 in towns and cities across British Columbia.

Fort Nelson, where Garfield's a fave

At Fort Nelson Public Library, we contacted librarian Joan Davidson to get an idea of the most popular books in northern British Columbia. In a town with only about 5,000 full-time residents, the library has an astounding 40,000 books on its shelves. With all those options available, here's what Fort Nelson readers were most interested in last year.

The following titles were tied for number of circulations:

Cranbrook is Steele country

Near the Alberta border, at Cranbrook Public Library, chief librarian Ursula Brigl assisted us -- as she does with her library's many visitors -- in finding these titles. Included in the top ten most-borrowed items is a UK television series, Blue Murder.

On Vancouver Island, the libraries are all linked together as branches of the Vancouver Island Regional Library. The Tyee spoke with Michael deLeur at the Port Alberni branch, who helped us compile the information below. There are two DVDs on this list of the Island's most-requested catalogue items, as well as the recent Giller Prize recipient, Johanna Skibsrud's The Sentimentalists.

Hazelton, wolves and vampires

At Hazelton Public Library, about 1,200 kilometres to the northwest of the Lower Mainland, librarian Ruth Cooper gave us her expert opinion on which books were the most frequently borrowed in 2010. Stieg Larsson tops the charts again, but the rest of the list -- some of which was picked by a local book club -- shows excellent diversity, including fiction, autobiography, and manga.

Sechelt, lair of dragons

In Sechelt, assistant librarian and head of technical services Rose Toenders went above and beyond The Tyee's request and provided not only the top ten books with local readers, but also compiled the top ten book club selections from last year. "We have a lot of book clubs here in Sechelt," said Toenders, and the library makes sure to stock extra copies of the books on their reading lists.

Sechelt Library's Top Ten

Local Book Clubs' Top Ten

So it wasn't just Vancouver. In 2010, readers all over the province were enamoured with Stieg Larsson's trilogy and Stephenie Meyer's adolescent bloodsuckers. Outside of the Lower Mainland, though, other books were also in high demand. Award winning authors like Lawrence Hill, Linden MacIntyre, and Anne Michaels were matched in popularity by graphic novels and Garfield. Canadian authors and small time presses were represented alongside John Grisham, Ken Follett, and Danielle Steele. Informative reads (a plumbing manual and a pop-neurology book) were as frequently borrowed as some blockbuster novels.

Clearly, British Columbians have a wide range of interests. Fortunately, according to a recent article in The National Post, book lovers won't be lacking in new reading materials in the coming year.

What books did you enjoy last year, and what are you looking forward to reading in 2011? [Tyee]

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