This book has been checked out over 30K times from the Denver Public Library

Maddie Rhodes
·3 min read

DENVER (KDVR) — In the past decade, some books at the Denver Public Library have passed through thousands of hands and crossed tens of thousands of e-readers and audiobook listeners.

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One story at the Denver Public Library, classified as a children’s book, has been circulated tens of thousands of times in the past 10 years – and the book is over 20 years old.

Most borrowed books in the past 10 years

This list shows how many times the top books have been checked out from the Denver Public Library. It’s split into categories like hardcover, e-books and audiobooks for all ages and adults.

Top five (physical) books – adults

  1. “All the Light We Cannot See” – 4,556

  2. “Educated” – 2,990

  3. “Where the Crawdads Sing” – 2,843

  4. “Little Fires Everywhere” – 2,736

  5. “The Girl on the Train” – 2,668

Top five (physical) books – all ages

  1. “All the Light We Cannot See” – 4,556

  2. “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” – 3,729

  3. “The Pigeon Needs a Bath!” – 3,340

  4. “Waiting Is Not Easy!” – 3,206

  5. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal” – 3,173

Top five e-books

  1. “The Goldfinch” – 11,368

  2. “Outlander” – 10,089

  3. “A Gentleman in Moscow” – 9,819

  4. “Little Fires Everywhere” – 9,277

  5. “The Martian” – 9,077

Top five audiobooks – all ages

  1. “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” – 16,970

  2. “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants” – 13,878

  3. “You are a [expletive]: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life” – 13,823

  4. “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry” – 13,255

  5. “A Court of Thorns and Roses” – 13,255

Top five audiobooks – adults

  1. “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants” – 13,878

  2. “You are a [expletive]: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life” – 13,823

  3. “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry” – 13,255

  4. “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a [expletive]: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life” – 12,586

  5. “Educated” – 11,159

While some of these stories pop up on other lists, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” has been one of the most checked-out stories with over 20,000 checkouts as a hard copy and audiobook in the past decade.

“Harry Potter” has been a Denver Public Library favorite for 10 years, but the book is over 20 years old and dates the library’s records of checked-out books.

The library’s records go as far back as 2011 when the library switched to its current checkout system.

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According to the system, since Jan. 31, 2011, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” has circulated 9,762 times as a physical book. Since the current electronic editions were added in 2021, the story was checked out 17,789 times as an audiobook and 6,005 times as an e-book.

This totals over 33,000 people checking out the novel in one way or another in the past 13 years.

Even though the story of the “boy who lived” has passed through many generations, people at the Denver Public Library are still checking out the story to dive deeper into the wizarding world.

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