INSIGHT Nielsen
Go inside to go outside: Natural history, gardening and outdoor activities books in libraries
G
REEN Libraries Week at the beginning of October got us all thinking about the ways we can lower our environmental
impact, both inside and outside of the library setting.
We can use access to the library to inspire action and learn to enjoy and appreciate the natural world through books. Nielsen has several categories of books pertaining to the outdoors and natural history; which books within these categories have been the most popular in the libraries on the Nielsen LibScan panel so far in 2023?
Compared to retail sales, Libraries loan a marginally higher proportion of books in the Gardening category than are sold, with 2.2 per cent of all Non-Fiction loans up to 9 September this year being Gardening books, versus just 0.79 per cent of Non-Fiction sales. Fishing, Field Sports & Outdoor Activities, which covers books about other fresh air pursuits like hiking, is slightly less popular with a 0.4 per cent share of all Non-Fiction loans so far in 2023. The most loaned titles in these categories in 2023 up to 9 September are listed in the table below. The sales charts echo similar titles, though 2023 release Why Women Grow
Fishing, Field Sports & Outdoor Activities Title
Author
1 1000 Hours Outside: Activities to Match Screen Time with Green Time
2 52 Ways to Walk: The Surprising Science of Walking for Wellness and Joy
3 Rough Guide to Walks in London & the Southeast
4 Wild Days: Outdoor Play for Young Adventurers
5 The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs
54 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL Ginny Yurich Annabel Streets Helena Smith Richard Irvine Tristan Gooley
by Alice Vincent sits at number two in sales, and much lower down in loans at number 72. This title is less instructive and more history – sharing forgotten stories of women’s relationship to the earth and the tending of it. Being so recently published, it may not have had time to reach as high in the loan charts. Similarly, after these charts were created, Walk Yourself Happy by Julia Bradbury (released 14 September) has shot straight to the top of sales chart for the Fishing, Field Sports & Outdoor Activities category – another title to keep an eye out for in the library in the following months if you are looking for more ideas and inspiration for getting outside.
Speaking of inspiration, Natural History titles offer a wealth of learning about our planet, from the smallest fungus to the largest tree. Entangled Life and Otherlands are also in the top five for sales so far this year, alongside two 2023 releases not in the top loans – Guy Shrubsole’s Lost Rainforests of Britain and Patrick Barkham & Alastair Fothergill’s Wild Isles, both titles that celebrate the oft- forgotten biodiversity and habitats on our doorsteps in the UK. They nicely complement popular library titles like
Gardening Title
1 RHS Step-by-Step Veg Patch
2 RHS How to Create your Garden
3 Gardener’s World: How I Garden
4 RHS How To Garden When You’re New To Gardening
5 The Vegetable Grower’s Handbook
Author Lucy Chamberlain Adam Frost Adam Frost The RHS Huw Richards
‘‘
No matter what your interest, lending in of itself is a sustainable way to explore new subjects without buying anything new ...
Suzy Warnock is Account Manager at Nielsen BookData.
Isabella Tree’s Wilding, which explores the rewilding of British farmland. In Children’s books, the top Non- Fiction title focusing on nature for 2023 so far is Benjamin Zephaniah’s Nature Trail, an illustrated celebration of the nature, big and small, we can find in our local green spaces. Hannah Peck’s My Butterfly Bouquet is another example of a beautifully illustrated book that teaches children about the wonders of the smaller creatures we share the world with, in this case the lifecycle of butterflies. In the top 1,000 Children’s Non-Fiction titles loaned this year we also see practical guides like Moira Butterfield’s National Trust Look What I Found at the… series, and the child- friendly gardening guide by the RHS, Let’s Get Gardening.
How do these top titles compare to the favourites at your local library? No matter what your interest, lending in of itself is a sustainable way to explore new subjects without buying anything new, and to find information about new hobbies and ideas for free. Indeed, libraries embody the key elements of improving sustainability: access, education, and community. IP
October-November 2023
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