The PLR (Public Lending Right), the body which oversees (fairly small but vital) payments to authors for their books being borrowed from public libraries has issued its annual look at just what the Great British Public have been reading. While US crime writer James Patterson was the most borrowed author (that’s taking into account all of his books, not a single title) J K Rowling’s final Harry Potter novel was the most borrowed individual title across the kingdom, while children’s books took no less than six of the top ten national spots, including some authors who create some lovely illustrated books for youngsters such as Mick Inkpen and Janet and Allan Ahlberg. The wonderful Jacqueline Wilson, who worked in comics in her early career, took the second spot behind Patterson. According to a BBC TV news report I caught crime, science fiction and fantasy and children’s books were among the most popular reading in UK libraries, often outdoing the old stalwart genre of romance.
The PLR also noted that most authors had continued to see their income fall significantly in the last few years; for every bestseller like Rowling or Pratchett there are dozens of other writers struggling along financially and the PLR (celebrating its 30th anniversary year) is a vital source of income for many of them. That may not pay huge dividends but it is nice to think that there’s a mutual system benefiting readers who take advantage of public libraries (I’ve said it before and will say it again, one of the most quietly remarkable institutions civilisation has produced – come in, read all you want; what a wonderful idea) and also rewarding the writers whose books populate the shelves and stacks. (via the BBC)
Sat, Feb 7, 2009
Books