The Girl On The Train: Hit thriller by Paula Hawkins tops list of most-borrowed library books
Paula Hawkins' best-selling novel The Girl On The Train was the most-borrowed library book in 2015/2016, it has been revealed.
The thriller was borrowed 72,827 times between July 2015 and July 2016 - or around 200 times per day.
The book has sold 15 million copies around the world and been turned into a major film starring Emily Blunt.
The most borrowed books from UK libraries, 2015/16, were as follows:
1. The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins
2. Personal - Lee Child
3. Make Me - Lee Child
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul - Jeff Kinney
6. Alert - James Patterson
7. Go Set A Watchman - Harper Lee
8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever - Jeff Kinney
9. Awful Auntie - David Walliams
10.Truth or Die - James Patterson
Hawkins told the BBC: "As a voracious reader possessed of a fevered imagination, my childhood visits to the library were a thrill.
"I credit those weekly trips with making me the reader - and the writer - I became, so I could not be more delighted to discover that The Girl on the Train was the most borrowed book from UK libraries last year."
The Girl On The Train was hailed as "the new Gone Girl", and was the biggest adult fiction title, selling 1.1 million copies for £5.3m.
Published by Black Swan, it became a word-of-mouth sensation which placed its author, a former financial journalist, in a spot on Forbes' yearly ranking of the richest writers in the world.
Hawkins does not appear among the top 10 most borrowed authors, however.
US writer James Patterson was number one on that list for the 10th year in a row thanks to his hit crime novels, followed by children's authors Julia Donaldson, Daisy Meadows, Roderick Hunt and Francesca Simon.
The most borrowed authors from UK libraries, 2015/16
1. James Patterson
2. Julia Donaldson
3. Daisy Meadows
4. Roderick Hunt
5. Francesca Simon
6. MC Beaton
7. Adam Blade
8. Jacqueline Wilson
9. Roald Dahl
10. Nora Roberts
The figures come from Public Lending Right, which distributes royalties to authors whose books are borrowed: they get 7.8p each time, and are paid a maximum of £6,600.
