Figure 1.


Figure 2.


Figure 3. Figure 4.


Figure 5.


So what are the adults reading by com- parison? Fiction loans outstrip the non-fic- tion loans by nearly 2:1 in most four-week periods, during the summer months we again see a rise in the fiction loans but on a much more modest scale. In adult fiction the most popular loan genres reflect the pattern of trade sales in UK shops and are represented by Crime, Thriller and Adventure, and the General and Literary Fiction genres; but more surprising is the marked increase in interest in Graphic Novels during the summer months, albeit at much lower levels. Manga titles increase their loans from 7,400 to 10,200, an increase of 38 per cent nationally. The only genre which decreases at all in loan rates is Westerns,


June-July 2020


Figure 6.


but that is only a modest three per cent decrease.


During this eight-week time span in the libraries over half a million unique ISBN titles were tracked, and loaned out a total of 10.8 million times – and that is only the print editions. Many libraries now have dig- ital fiction lendings in addition. To put this in context the UK trade reported on print sales of three-quarters of a million ISBN’s giving total volume sales of 25 million cop- ies in the same eight weeks (see figure six). Using Nielsen LibScan, each panel mem- ber will be able to compare their own au- thority activity against the national activity, but may also be in a position to look at activity by their fellow corsortia authorities to provide greater context to the lending


in their region. So, knowing when readers might visit, and what they look for, helps each library with stock management and provision, ensuring that libraries continue to provide a vital and relevant service to users and allocate precious resources where they are most needed. IP


*The Nielsen LibScan panel collects weekly loan data by ISBN from around 80 of the UK Public Library authorities and reports four-weekly loan figures to all participating libraries. For each ISBN the loan figures can be analysed by author, publisher, date of publication, format and genre. For more information contact me at sara.mulryan@ nielsen.com.


INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 37


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