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The Berkeley Public Library\u2019s central branch. Credit: Pete Rosos<\/p>\nWe work for you \u2014 and we\u2019re matching your donation 1:1! Our journalists attend city council and school board meetings, follow tips and make the calls to keep you informed on the important issues in Berkeley. Will you chip in today?<\/p>\n
The Berkeley Public Library\u2019s central branch. Credit: Pete Rosos<\/p>\n
As 2025 wraps up, the Berkeley Public Library crunched the numbers to find out the year\u2019s most popular items.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The Berkeley-raised filmmaker, artist, actor and author Miranda July\u2019s semi-autobiographical novel \u201cAll Fours\u201d \u2014 about a middle-aged, multi-hyphenate artist (resembling July), who impulsively remodels a motel room and has an extra-marital sexual awakening involving a younger man and an older woman \u2014 is No. 1 in the adult fiction category.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the adult nonfiction category, Ta-Nehisi Coates\u2019 memoir and travelogue \u201cThe Message\u201d was the most-requested title. Reflecting on the nature of mythmaking and Coates\u2019 trips to Senegal, South Carolina and Palestine, the book garnered attention and controversy for the comparisons he drew between being Black in America and Palestinian in the Middle East and his full-throated condemnation of the Israeli occupation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the kids section, the most checked-out book was \u201cHot Mess,\u201d from Jeff Kinney\u2019s silly \u201cDiary of a Wimpy Kid\u201d series. In the teen category \u2014 for the second year in a row \u2014 Suzanne Collins\u2019 \u201cHunger Games\u201d prequel \u201cThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes\u201d reigned supreme.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the most checked-out item from the Berkeley Public Library in 2025 wasn\u2019t a book at all\u00a0 \u2014 it was the laptops patrons can use for up to two hours inside the library. This year, at least 15,243 patrons used the self-checkout laptops, said library spokesperson Aimee Reeder \u2014 a significant rise over last year as the library\u2019s brought more Windows 10 computers into circulation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over at the Tool Lending Library, established in 1979 and available to all cardholders 18 and up, 50-foot extension cords were the most checked-out tool. In addition to items like toys, sports equipment and event supplies, the library\u2019s offerings<\/a> include a lawn mower, a bike repair kit, air quality monitors, ladders, a kids\u2019 wheelbarrow, a dinosaur-shaped cake pan, a Belgian waffle maker and a sous vide cooker.<\/p>\n By the way, here\u2019s your annual reminder that you can check out<\/a> a California State Library Parks Pass for up to two weeks, which means you don\u2019t have to pay for parking at over 200 state parks<\/a>, including at Mount Tamalpais, Big Basin Redwoods, Mendocino Woodlands. This year, 348 people took advantage of the pass, Reeder wrote in an email.<\/p>\n The library\u2019s most checked-out items of 2024<\/p>\n Tools<\/p>\n 50-foot extension cords (1,229)<\/p>\n Weedwhacker (950)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Drill bit set\u00a0 (543)\u00a0<\/p>\n 32-inch lopping shears (484)\u00a0<\/p>\n Hedge shear (477)\u00a0<\/p>\n 14-foot tree pruner (462)\u00a0<\/p>\n Pruning shears (426)<\/p>\n Cordless battery charger (372)\u00a0<\/p>\n Cordless impact driver (353)<\/p>\n Adult Fiction<\/p>\n \u201cAll Fours\u201d by Miranda July (1,540 checkouts)<\/p>\n \u201cJames\u201d\u00a0 by Percival Everett (1,460)<\/p>\n \u201cOrbital\u201d by Samantha Harvey (1,402)<\/p>\n \u201cDemon Copperhead\u201d by Barbara Kingsolver (1,248)<\/p>\n \u201cCreation Lake\u201d by Rachel Kushner (1,215)<\/p>\n \u201cThe God of the Woods\u201d\u00a0 by Liz Moore (1,158)<\/p>\n \u201cTell Me Everything\u201d\u00a0 by Elizabeth Strout (1,067)<\/p>\n \u201cRemarkably Bright Creatures\u201d by Shelby Van Pelt (838)<\/p>\n \u201cThe Heaven & Earth Grocery Store\u201d by James McBride (833) \u2014 last year\u2019s top title<\/p>\n \u201cThe Ministry of Time\u201d by Kaliane Bradley (815)<\/p>\n Adult Nonfiction<\/p>\n \u201cThe Message\u201d by Ta-Nehisi Coates (546 checkouts)<\/p>\n \u201cThe Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness\u201d by Jonathan Haidt (519)<\/p>\n \u201cThe Backyard Bird Chronicles\u201d by Amy Tan (437)<\/p>\n \u201cBe Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir\u201d by Ina Garten (409)<\/p>\n \u201cRevenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders and the Rise of Social Engineering\u201d by Malcolm Gladwell (388)<\/p>\n \u201cDoppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World\u201d by Naomi Klein (369)<\/p>\n \u201cBraiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (368)<\/p>\n \u201cWant: Sexual Fantasies by Anonymous\u201d collected by Gillian Anderson (349)<\/p>\n \u201cSapiens: A Brief History of Humankind\u201d by Yuval N. Harari (342)<\/p>\n \u201cEducated: A Memoir\u201d by Tara Westover (340)<\/p>\n Teen<\/p>\n \u201cHunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes\u201d by Suzanne Collins (286 checkouts) \u2014 also last year\u2019s top title<\/p>\n \u201cA Court of Thorns & Roses\u201d by Sarah Maas (236)<\/p>\n \u201cThe Giver\u201d by Lois Lowry (233)<\/p>\n \u201cMy Hero Academia: Volume 1\u201d by Kohei Horikoshi (202)<\/p>\n \u201cHunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping\u201d by Suzanne Collins (194)<\/p>\n \u201cAccountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed\u201d by Dashka Slater (193) \u2014 about an incident at Albany High School<\/p>\n \u201cThe Hunger Games\u201d by Suzanne Collins (191)<\/p>\n \u201cThe Book Thief\u201d by Markus Zusak (185)<\/p>\n \u201cSaga\u201d by Brian K. Vaughan (181)<\/p>\n \u201cOlympians: Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess\u201d by George O\u2019Connor (173)<\/p>\n Kids<\/p>\n \u201cDiary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess\u201d by Jeff Kinney (702 checkouts)<\/p>\n \u201cWings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy\u201d by Tui Sutherland (589)<\/p>\n \u201cThe Baby-Sitters Club: Mary Ane\u2019s Bad Luck Mystery\u201d by Cynthia Yuan Cheng (544)<\/p>\n \u201cDiary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End\u201d by Jeff Kinney (540)<\/p>\n \u201cThe Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy and the Walking Disaster\u201d by Ellen T. Crenshaw (526)<\/p>\n \u201cDog Man: Lord of the Fleas\u201d by Dav Pilkey (526)<\/p>\n \u201cDog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea\u201d by Dav Pilkey (523)<\/p>\n \u201cThe Baby-Sitters Little Sister: Karen\u2019s Grandmothers\u201d by DK Yingst (522)<\/p>\n \u201cDog Man: Brawl of the Wild\u201d by Dav Pilkey (522)<\/p>\n \u201cHilo: Rise of the Cat\u201d by Judd Winick (518)<\/p>\n Note: The statistics the library shared with Berkeleyside reflect circulation data from Jan. 1, 2025, through Dec. 8, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n Let’s be real … <\/p>\n These are uncertain times. Democracy is under threat in myriad ways, including the right of a free press to report the truth without fear of repercussions.<\/p>\n One thing is certain, however: Berkeleyside was built for moments like these. We believe wholeheartedly that an informed community is a strong community, so we’re doubling down on our mission of reporting the stories that empower and connect you when it matters most.<\/p>\n If you value the news you read in this article, please help us keep it going strong in 2026.<\/p>\n We’ve set a goal to raise $180,000 by year-end and we’re counting on our readers to help us get there. And a bonus: Any gift you make will be matched through Dec. 31 \u2014 so $50 becomes $100, $200 becomes $400. Will you make a donation now in support of nonprofit journalism for Berkeley?<\/p>\n Tracey Taylor “*” indicates required fields<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We work for you \u2014 and we\u2019re matching your donation 1:1! Our journalists attend city council and school…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[113535,412,146,91152,85,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-201676","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-berkeley-public-library","9":"tag-books","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-home-highlight","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-israel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_0099-scaled.jpg\")
More than 5,000 tools are available at the Berkeley Tool Lending Library. Credit: Berkeley Public Library<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/portrait_circle-1.png\")
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Co-founder, Berkeleyside<\/p>\n