{"id":411607,"date":"2026-01-14T05:19:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T05:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/411607\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T05:19:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T05:19:13","slug":"these-were-the-most-borrowed-books-from-brisbane-libraries-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/411607\/","title":{"rendered":"These were the most borrowed books from Brisbane libraries in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

A crime fiction novel was the most checked out book out of the more than 5.9 million other physical items loaned out by libraries run by Australia’s largest council last year.<\/p>\n

Residents in the river city also frequently borrowed out cookbooks, kids’ classics, and young adult series in 2025, according to Brisbane City Council data.<\/p>\n

It also showed that 5.3 million people visited the city’s libraries, while e-books and audiobooks were also popular, with 2.1 million downloaded in the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"close<\/p>\n

The average person borrowed 6.5 items from Australian libraries in 2023-24. (AAP: Lukas Coach)<\/p>\n

Across the country, the latest Australian Public Libraries Statistical Report showed a 10 per cent increase in in-person visits.<\/p>\n

Flinders University’s Heather Robinson said the most obvious reason for the rise in demand was because of the cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>\n

“We’ve seen a lot of people coming back to libraries as a way of not just maintaining their social connections, but in order to access their cultural offerings,” the creative industries Adjunct Research Associate said.<\/p>\n

“A lot of people are still borrowing DVDs as well as magazines, newspapers,” Dr Robinson said.<\/p>\n

\"Heather<\/p>\n

Heather Robinson is a writer and researcher specialising in the cultural history of the 20th century at Flinders University. (Supplied: Carmen Bunting)<\/p>\n

The average person borrowed 6.5 items from Australian libraries in 2023-24, according to the statistical report.<\/p>\n

Australian Library and Information Association’s Liz Bradtke said it was the highest average in the last five years.<\/p>\n

Ms Bradtke said around the country, people were continuing to use their libraries in “huge numbers”.<\/p>\n

“At the moment, there’s a big push to make Australia a reading nation,” the association’s communications and engagement director said.<\/p>\n

So, what’s everyone reading?<\/p>\n

The most borrowed book in 2025 was the crime fiction novel We Solve Murders by Richard Osman.<\/p>\n

It was loaned out 2,306 times from the council’s libraries.<\/p>\n

Here is a breakdown of the top five most borrowed reads of 2025 in adult fiction, non-fiction, junior fiction series, and young adult fiction series.<\/p>\n

Adult fiction<\/p>\n

We Solve Murders \u2014 Richard OsmanIn Too Deep \u2014 Lee ChildHere One Moment \u2014 Liane MoriartyLola in the Mirror \u2014 Trent DaltonNightshade \u2014 Michael Connelly<\/p>\n

Non-fiction<\/p>\n

The Let Them Theory \u2014 Mel RobbinsWifedom \u2014 Anna FunderThe Anxious Generation \u2014 Jonathan HaidtRecipeTin Eats Tonight \u2014 Nagi MaehashiMemorial Days \u2014 Geraldine Brooks<\/p>\n

Junior fiction series<\/p>\n

Diary of a Wimpy Kid \u2014 Jeff KinneyAdventures Unlimited \u2014 Andy GriffithsCat Kid Comic Club \u2014 Dav PilkeyWeirDo \u2014 Anh DoWings of Fire \u2014 Tui T Sutherland<\/p>\n

Young adult fiction series<\/p>\n

The Hunger Games \u2014 Suzanne CollinsA Court of Thorns and Roses \u2014 Sarah J MaasThe Summer I Turned Pretty \u2014 Jenny HanA Good Girl’s Guide to Murder \u2014 Holly JacksonPowerless trilogy \u2014 Lauren Roberts’People love their local libraries’<\/p>\n

Ms Bradtke said it was no surprise that large numbers of Australians were accessing their local libraries.<\/p>\n

Australian libraries recorded more than 88 million in-person visits in 2023-24.<\/p>\n

“One thing to know about libraries is that they evolve with the needs of the community,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Particularly at the moment with the rise of cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Brisbane City Council library. (ABC News: Sarah Richards)<\/p>\n

“Libraries reflect the communities that they serve, and they always evolve and adapt to meet their needs,” Ms Bradtke said.<\/p>\n

She said the previous statistical report showed there was a “significant increase in people coming back to libraries” after the pandemic.<\/p>\n

But Ms Bradtke said the latest report, released in October, showed it was “even higher”.<\/p>\n

Libraries loaned out 174 million items in 2023-24 \u2014 a 23 per cent increase from 2019-20.<\/p>\n

“It’s back to pre-COVID levels, which is showing just how much people love their local libraries and want to take advantage of all the things that they offer,” she said.<\/p>\n

How to read more books<\/a><\/p>\n

As reading rates decline, one writer shares her advice on how to make reading a daily habit.<\/p>\n

Dr Robinson said libraries played a vital role in their communities.<\/p>\n

“Libraries have always fulfilled the function within communities of providing bridges to trusted sources of information,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Now, librarians play an awfully large part in that the collections have been curated, they are there in a way that reflects the needs, interests, and the values of the community,” Dr Robinson said.<\/p>\n

She said “most importantly, these days” the space had to be “both politically neutral and commercially neutral”.<\/p>\n

“You don’t have to buy anything. You don’t have to make a justification for being there,” Dr Robinson said.<\/p>\n

“You are welcome as a member of your community.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A crime fiction novel was the most checked out book out of the more than 5.9 million other…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,457,12972,14005,217700,39389,134,31404,94,701],"class_list":["post-411607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-books","tag-borrowing","tag-brisbane-city-council","tag-brisbane-libraries","tag-cds","tag-entertainment","tag-libraries","tag-qld","tag-queensland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}