Nine of the top ten books borrowed from Manchester libraries in 2016 were children’s titles, new figures show.
Authors David Walliams with four titles and Jeff Kinney, with three, dominated the top ten.
Figures for the most borrowed titles in public libraries are compiled and released annually by the UK Public Lending Right Office, part of the British Library.
Walliams’ four top hits with Manchester borrowers – Awful Auntie, Demon Dentist, Gangsta Granny and Billionaire Boy – were borrowed a total of 1,396 by young bookworms.
Kinney’s most successful titles – The Long Haul, Cabin Fever and The Last Straw – racked up a total of 1,068 loans.
Smash hit thriller The Girl On The Train was the most borrowed title for adults, being loaned out 328 times by Manchester’s libraries in 2016.
The high number of loans for children’s titles follows on from the strong success of local initiatives to get children reading, including Read Manchester and the annual Summer Reading Challenge.
Both schemes stem from a partnership between Manchester City Council and the National Literacy Trust, who have created Read Manchester as a campaign to promote reading and boost literacy throughout the city.
The Summer Reading Challenge offers rewards and prizes for children who take on the challenge to borrow and read at least six library books during the summer holidays. More than 5,700 Manchester children took part in the Challenge in 2016, with more than 3,750 of them reading six books or more.
