The Barcelona Libraries consortium announced yesterday that loans increased by 10% last year, a percentage that rises to 18% when comparing the figures with those before the pandemic. It also made public the list of the most borrowed titles, among which it stands out that the majority of novels were written by women, as well as that the most requested comics are manga.
In a list without too many changes, in 2023 seven writers are among the ten most borrowed: Eva Baltasar, Irene Solà, Eva García Sáenz de Urturi, Julia Navarro, Isabel Allende and Luz Gabás. Boulder (Club Editor, 2020), by Eva Baltasar, was the most borrowed from the libraries, and is followed, in this order, Canto jo i la muntanya balla (Anagrama, 2019), by Irene Solà; The Beast (Planeta, 2021) by Carmen Mola, The Black Book of Hours, by Eva García Sáenz de Urturi (Planeta, 2022) and From Nowhere, by Julia Navarro (Plaza Janés, 2021).
As for comics, My hero Academia (Planeta Cómic, 2016), by Kohei Horikoshi, tops the ranking of adult comics, made up exclusively of manga: Guardians of the Night (Norma Editorial, 2019), by Koyoharu Gotoge; Tokyo revengers (Norma Editorial, 2022), by Ken Wakui; 20th Century Boys (Planeta-De Agostini, 2004-2007), by Naoki Urasawa, and Spy x family (Ivrea, 2019), by Endo Tatsuya.
Regarding the music and film fund, the award-winning Belfast, directed by Kenneth Branagh, was the most loaned film of 2023, followed by Alcarràs, by Carla Simón and the international co-production Dune. Regarding music, the most requested is from Catalan groups and singers, as the compilation El rock català: 1980-1994 leads the list, followed by Motomami by Rosalía and, in third place, Un minut stroboscopic, by Antònia Font. Also for the third consecutive year, the children’s fiction most in demand by the little ones is led by El monstre de colors va a l’escola (Flamboyant, 2018), by Anna Llenas, and is followed by two scary stories by Meritxell Martí: Un regal de by and Un sopar de por, while the following ages are led by El misteri de la tifa de gosabanada (Bambú, 2012), by Anna Cabeza and El cap als núvols (L’Altra Tribu, 2021), by Bernat Cormand.
L’Assassina de Venècia (Estrella Polar, 2021), by Pol Castellanos and winner of the Protagonista Jove 2023 award, and Una bala per al record (Jo Llibre, 2017) by Maite Carranza, have been the most requested youth novels, a list in which There is also Wonder (The Bell), by R.J. Palacio, a regular on the list in recent years.
As for the most borrowed youth or children’s comics, there is no news: Naruto, One Piece and Bola de Drac, nor in the children’s favorite music, which continues to be headed by El Pot Petit and Dàmaris Gelabert.
