Many libraries have been closed for the vast majority of the year, but that has not stopped them from loaning out a record number of audiobooks and ebooks worldwide. 2020 is on pace to once again set records in ebooks and audiobooks borrowed on Libby and across all OverDrive platforms. Through the first 11 months of 2020, 366 million ebook and audiobooks have been checked out from public libraries worldwide —a 30% increase from 2019. The fastest-growing genres are children’s fiction and nonfiction, young adult fiction and nonfiction as well as comics and graphic novels.
Overdrive has just published their top 10 most borrowed audiobooks and ebooks from libraries, all over the world. You can get a sense on what type of stuff people are reading or listening to on their Kobo e-reader, smartphone or tablet.
Top 10 Ebooks Checked Out from Public Libraries Worldwide in 2020
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Educated by Tara Westover
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
- The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
- The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
- The Guardians by John Grisham
- Blue Moon by Lee Child
Top 10 Audiobooks Checked Out from Public Libraries Worldwide in 2020
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
- Educated by Tara Westover
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
- So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
- The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Top 10 Fiction Ebooks & Audiobooks (Released in 2020) Checked Out from Public Libraries Worldwide in 2020
- Walk the Wire by David Baldacci
- Camino Winds by John Grisham
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
- The Guest List by Lucy Foley
- The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
- The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
- American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
- In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
- Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
- Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
Top 10 Nonfiction Ebooks & Audiobooks (Released in 2020) Checked Out from Public Libraries Worldwide in 2020
- Untamed by Glennon Doyle
- The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
- Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump
- Open Book by Jessica Simpson
- Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
- The Room Where It Happened by John Bolton
- Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
- A Very Stable Genius by Philip Rucker
- Wow, No Thank You. by Samantha Irby
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.