Horrid Henry is the most popular child in Ireland with the Official Driver Theory Test in pole position
Irish children are great readers and very influential users of public libraries. They have ensured that children’s authors from Ireland, Great Britain and the Unites States dominated the most-borrowed books in Ireland’s 352 public libraries.
Roderick Hunt, author of over 300 titles in the Oxford Reading Tree series is Irish children’s top choice, narrowly beating the creator of Horrid Henry, Francesca Simon. Children enjoyed Horrid Henry’s antics and borrowed the range of titles 98,000 times in 2009.
Reacting to her popularity in Ireland, Ms Simon declared her inside knowledge:
‘I’m delighted that Horrid Henry is such a popular boy in Irish libraries as I spent all of my lunchtimes volunteering in my school library and most of my afternoons in my local one.’
The team behind Daisy Meadows’ Rainbow Magic featured as the 3rd most-borrowed authors. Ever-popular authors Enid Blyton, Roger Hargreaves, and Roald Dahl all ranked in the top ten.
‘America’s favourite novelist’, Nora Roberts, who also writes as J.D. Robb, was the most-borrowed general fiction author at number 7, followed by fellow-American James Patterson at number 8, and Lee Child, author of the Reacher books, at number 10.
Darren Shan claims the prize of the most popular Irish author in 2009, at number 13. Darren, whose tales of vampires and demons have sold 15 million copies worldwide was thrilled to learn of his high rating:
‘I was delighted when I heard I was the most borrowed Irish author in Irish public libraries in 2009’, said Limerick-based Mr Shan, ‘but I know that I wouldn’t be where I am today if not for Ireland’s fabulous libraries. I’ve always been proud of how well my books have fared in Ireland, but no writer makes it to the top by themselves, and any success story of mine is also a success story for Ireland’s librarians and libraries. They’re a national treasure.’
Irish authors, both children’s and adult, are attracting lots of Irish readers, with 17 featuring in the top 100.When it comes to the most-borrowed books, 6 Irish books are in the top ten. The top spot is taken by the Official Driver Theory Test. John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was edged into second position by Ireland’s fledgling car users. Published in 2006, Boyne’s searing story continues to enthral. A successful film based on the book was released in 2008. Reacting to the news, Mr Boyne enthused about library readers’ vote of confidence:
‘I spent a huge part of my childhood in libraries. I discovered my love of books there. I started writing there. So to hear that one of my novels is so popular among library-goers today makes me very proud and grateful to Irish readers.’
Fiction dominates both the author and title list. The strength of Irish fiction in the list endorses the popularity of Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture, at number 3, This Charming Man by Marian Keyes at number 4, Maeve Binchy’s Heart and Soul at number 7 and Cathy Kelly’s Lessons in Heartbreak at number 10.
Irish authors claim 22 of the top 100 most popular books.
The public’s appetite for fantasy shows no sign of waning, with Stephenie Meyers’s Twilight at number 6, and the penultimate Harry Potter title, Harry Potter and The Half-blood Prince taking 8th slot. Neither of these books is new and librarians noticed the interest in borrowing since films based on both titles were released.
The most-borrowed non-fiction book, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, is at number 68.
The Library Council has compiled the list from information supplied to the recently established Public Lending Remuneration (PLR) Scheme. 9,657 authors resident in 31 countries registered their interest in the Irish PLR last year. €349,874.74 was paid out to 4,608 authors in recognition of their total library loans. Five authors received the maximum payment of €3,000, and the rate-per-loan was 13.93 cents.
Commenting on the first year of PLR, Senator Mark Dearey, Chairman of The Library Council, stated that the Council was delighted to initiate the scheme of the PLR payments to authors, thanks to funding provided by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government:
‘PLR is both a support to authors and a public acknowledgement of the value of their work. We are pleased that so many authors received a payment, however small’. Senator Dearey thanked mangers and staff in public library services around the country for their co-operation with the Scheme, and congratulated The Library Council staff on delivering the PLR Scheme on time and within budget.’
Information about PLR is available at www.plr.ie.
For further information please contact:
Brendan Teeling, Assistant Director, Library Council: Tel: 087 6184734; 01 6761167; email: bteeling@librarycouncil.ie.
Eva McEneaney, Executive Librarian PLR Office, Library Council: Tel: 01 – 6761167/6761963.
(email: emceneaney@librarycouncil.ie.
Notes for Editors
Under the Public Lending Remuneration (PLR) scheme, payment is made to authors, illustrators, etc. whose books are borrowed from one of the country’s 352 public libraries.
PLR is managed by the Library Council and funded by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
There are over 14 million visits to Irish public libraries each year, resulting in 14 million loans of books.
Most Borrowed Authors and Titles 2009
Most Borrowed Authors 2009 (Adult and Children Combined)
|
Position |
Author |
Adult/Children |
|
1 |
Roderick Hunt |
Children’s |
|
2 |
Francesca Simon |
Children’s |
|
3 |
Daisy Meadows |
Children’s |
|
4 |
Enid Blyton |
Children’s |
|
5 |
Jacqueline Wilson |
Children’s |
|
6 |
Roger Hargreaves |
Children’s |
|
7 |
Nora Roberts |
Adult |
|
8 |
James Patterson |
Adult |
|
9 |
Roald Dahl |
Children’s |
|
10 |
Lee Child |
Adult |
Most Borrowed Adult Authors 2009
|
Position |
Author |
|
1 |
Nora Roberts |
|
2 |
James Patterson |
|
3 |
Lee Child |
|
4 |
Darren Shan |
|
5 |
Jodi Picoult |
|
6 |
Michael Connelly |
|
7 |
Meg Cabot |
|
8 |
Danielle Steel |
|
9 |
Maeve Binchy |
|
10 |
Tess Gerritsen |
Most Borrowed Children’s Authors 2009
|
Position |
Author |
|
1 |
Roderick Hunt |
|
2 |
Francesca Simon |
|
3 |
Daisy Meadows |
|
4 |
Enid Blyton |
|
5 |
Jacqueline Wilson |
|
6 |
Roger Hargreaves |
|
7 |
Roald Dahl |
|
8 |
Terry Deary |
|
9 |
Vivian French |
|
10 |
Julia Donaldson |
Most Borrowed Irish Authors 2009 (Adult and Children Combined)
|
Position |
Author |
|
1 |
Darren Shan |
|
2 |
Maeve Binchy |
|
3 |
Eoin Colfer |
|
4 |
Sheila O’Flanagan |
|
5 |
Marita Conlon-McKenna |
|
6 |
Cathy Kelly |
|
7 |
Patricia Scanlan |
|
8 |
Marian Keyes |
|
9 |
Roddy Doyle |
|
10 |
Cecilia Ahern |
Most Borrowed Titles 2009 (Adult and Children Combined)
|
Position |
Author | Title |
|
1 |
Prometric Ireland Ltd/Road Safety Authority |
The Official Driver Theory Test |
|
2 |
John Boyne |
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas |
|
3 |
Sebastian Barry |
The Secret Scripture |
|
4 |
Marian Keyes |
This Charming Man |
|
5 |
J.K. Rowling |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows |
|
6 |
Stephenie Meyer |
Twilight |
|
7 |
Maeve Binchy |
Heart and Soul |
|
8 |
J.K. Rowling |
Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince |
|
9 |
Khaled Hosseini |
A Thousand Splendid Suns |
|
10 |
Cathy Kelly |
Lessons in heartbreak |
Most Borrowed Adult Fiction 2009
|
Position |
Author | Title |
|
1 |
John Boyne | The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas |
|
2 |
Sebastian Barry | The Secret Scripture |
|
3 |
Marian Keyes | This Charming Man |
|
4 |
Maeve Binchy | Heart and Soul |
|
5 |
Khaled Hosseini | A Thousand Splendid Suns |
|
6 |
Cathy Kelly | Lessons in Heartbreak |
|
7 |
Michael Connelly | The Brass Verdict |
|
8 |
Sheila O’Flanagan | Someone Special |
|
9 |
Patricia Scanlan | Forgive and Forget |
|
10 |
Maeve Binchy | This Year it will be Different |
Most Borrowed Children’s Fiction 2009
|
Position |
Author |
Title |
|
1 |
J.K. Rowling |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows |
|
2 |
Stephenie Meyer |
Twilight |
|
3 |
J.K. Rowling |
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince |
|
4 |
Francesca Simon; illustrated by Tony Ross |
Horrid Henry and the Bogey Babysitter |
|
5 |
J.K. Rowling |
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone |
|
6 |
Francesca Simon; illustrated by Tony Ross |
Horrid Henry and the Mega-mean Time Machine |
|
7 |
Francesca Simon; illustrated by Tony Ross |
Horrid Henry’s Stinkbomb |
|
8 |
Francesca Simon; illustrated by Tony Ross |
Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend |
|
9 |
Jacqueline Wilson; illustrated by Nick Sharratt |
My Sister Jodie |
|
10 |
Stephenie Meyer |
New Moon |
Most Borrowed Fiction by Irish Authors 2009 (Adult and Children Combined)
|
Position |
Author |
Title |
|
1 |
John Boyne |
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas |
|
2 |
Sebastian Barry |
The Secret Scripture |
|
3 |
Marian Keyes |
This Charming Man |
|
4 |
Maeve Binchy |
Heart and Soul |
|
5 |
Cathy Kelly |
Lessons in Heartbreak |
|
6 |
Sheila O’Flanagan |
Someone Special |
|
7 |
Patricia Scanlan |
Forgive and Forget |
|
8 |
Maeve Binchy |
This Year it will be Different |
|
9 |
Patricia Scanlan |
Happy Ever After |
|
10 |
Cathy Kelly |
Once in a Lifetime |
Most Borrowed Non-Fiction 2009
|
Position |
Author/Contributor |
Title |
|
1 |
Prometric Ireland Ltd/Road Safety Authority |
The Official Driver Theory Test |
|
2 |
Rhonda Byrne |
The Secret |
|
3 |
Lorna Byrne |
Angels in My Hair |
|
4 |
Barack Obama |
Dreams from My Father |
|
5 |
Guinness World Records Ltd. |
Guinness World Records 2009 |
