Some of us do love our books, and we have our own favorites. Well, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the New York Public Library’s opening in 1895, library experts decided to commemorate the event by highlighting the most borrowed books ever from this historical landmark. It took some time, pulling out all the circulation stats on all print and digital formats of books, analyzed certain factors such as length of time in print and presence in the library catalog. Finally, a list of the top ten most checked-out books came about. Check out if any are among your favorites…

Topping the list was The Snowy Day, authored by Ezra Jack Keats. It is a story about a boy discovering the wintry wonders of a snowy day. It has been in circulation since 1962, and is one of the 6 among the top ten books meant for younger audiences. The others would include Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat, E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. According to the experts, shorter books have quicker turnover rates, and children’s books are really not just for children. Surely the list had to include one of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone made it to 9th place. However, one children’s book well read by many did not make it to this list – Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. While it was published in 1947, it was only included to the NYPL catalog in 1972 out of a bias by one of the children’s librarians, who despised the story. Books also get borrowed a lot if they are part of a school’s curriculum, like Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, or if their themes keep appearing over and over again, just like George Orwell’s 1984.

For the curious, here is the list and the number of times they were checked-out:

1. The Snowy Day – Ezra Jack Keats (485,583)
2. The Cat I The Hat – Dr. Seuss (469,650)
3. 1984 – George Orwell (441,770)
4. Where The Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak (436,016)
5. To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee (422,912)
6. Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White (337,948)
7. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury (316,404)
8. How To Win Friends And Influence People – Dale Carnegie (284,524)
9. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling (231,022)
10. The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle (189,550)

There are many great books written by literary geniuses, you may be surprised that some of them are not included in this list. But as far as New Yorkers are concerned, this list of the top 10 is as it is. At least now you know…