BOSTON – December 28, 2021 – As we say goodbye to 2021, the BPL is looking back on another unique year. The first half was largely spent managing the BPL To Go program and offering a wide range of online programming and services. In the second half, the BPL reopened its doors, including at three newly renovated branches, and welcomed patrons back into its spaces.
“As we forged ahead into another year of virtual programs and services, and then learned how to be a hybrid organization, we are proud of our accomplishments in the face of continuing challenges and opportunities within our communities,” said BPL President David Leonard. “This year, through a combination of BPL To Go, online, and in-person service, we were able to circulate more than 4.6 million titles, and register more than 125,400 new BPL users. We also hosted about 4,800 virtual and in-person programs, attended by more than 213,000 patrons. Throughout 2021, the BPL has been working to meet the changing needs of the Boston community, including distributing more than 78,000 at home COVID-19 testing kits to Bostonians across the city. We look forward to finding more innovative opportunities to serve our patrons in the year ahead.”
The BPL's Readers Services Department has published its annual list of the top borrowed titles of the year for adults, children, and teens, as well as the staff’s favorite books of the year. The top 10 checked out books for adults in 2021 were:
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
- Educated, Tara Westover
- The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
- Normal People, Sally Rooney
- Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid
- The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
- Circe, Madeline Miller
- Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler
- Becoming, Michelle Obama
- The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
“In 2021, we saw our readers turn towards books that provide a sense of community, and help them connect with other readers,” said BPL Collection Development Manager Melissa Andrews. “The top tiles patrons checked out this year tended to be books written 2-4 years ago, titles that we could consider ‘comfort reads,’ popular with book clubs and discussing with friends. We also saw a bump in checkouts for books that have been gaining popularity on ‘BookTok,’ a community of readers on TikTok. The BookTok community has also helped readers discover new titles and formats, which often elevate BIPOC and queer authors or characters. We’re excited to help patrons discover these books, and connect with other readers during a time when we need community more than ever.”
Unsurprisingly, the BPL saw another year of boosted interest in its digital platforms and services. Using OverDrive, BPL’s main digital lending platform, patrons checked out more than 1.9 million ebooks, a 22 percent increase over 2020; and more than 1.2 million audiobooks, a 22 percent increase over 2020. There was also a 17 percent usage increase from 2020 to 2021 in Kanopy, which offers movie streaming.
Top Five Digital Reads, Listens, and Views
Top eBooks
- The Midnight Library, Matt Haig
- The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
- Anxious People, Fredrik Backman
- Maybe You Should Take to Someone, Lori Gottlieb
- The Four Winds, Kristin Hannah
- Full List
Top Audiobooks
- A Promised Land, Barack Obama
- Caste, Isabel Wilkerson
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
- Becoming, Michelle Obama
- The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
- Full List
Top Movies/Series Streamed (Kanopy)
- What We Do in the Shadows
- Race – the Power of an Illusion
- Another Round
- Parasite
- Alone
- Full List
Top Albums Streamed (Hoopla)
- Hamilton, Original Broadway Cast Recording
- Evermore, Taylor Swift
- Sour, Olivia Rodrigo
- Moana, Movie Soundtrack
- Kidz Bop 2021, Kidz Bop
- Full List
Top Books Check Out From Each Branch
Adams Street:
- Four Winds, Kristin Hannah
- American Street, Ibi Zoboi
- The Midnight Library, Matt Haig
- Golden Girl, Elin Hilderbrand
- Komi Can’t Communicate, Tomohito Oda
- While Justice Sleeps, Stacey Abrams
- The Therapist, B.A. Paris
- The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico, Sarah McCoy
- Are You Ready to Play Outside?, Mo Willems
- Obesity: Modern-Day Epidemic, Jean Ford, William Hunter, Autumn Libal, & Ellyn Sanna
Brighton:
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
- Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
- Anxious People, Fredrik Backman
- I Am Invited to a Party!, Mo Willems
- Normal People, Sally Rooney
- The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
- Daisy Jones & the Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Let’s Go for a Drive!, Mo Willems
- Educated, Tara Westover
- Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid
Charlestown:
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
- Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid
- Should I Share My Ice Cream?, Mo Willems
- The Guest List, Lucy Foley
- The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
- Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty
- The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
- I Will Take a Nap!, Mo Willems
- American Dirt, Jeanine Cummins
- Four Winds, Kristin Hannah
Chinatown:
- Dog Man 1, Dav Pilkey
- Lord of the Fleas, Dav Pilkey
- Dog Man Unleashed, Dav Pilkey
- A Tale of Two Kitties, Dav Pilkey
- Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls, Dav Pilkey & Jose Garibaldi
- Let’s Go for a Drive!, Mo Willems
- Grime and Punishment, Dav Pilkey
- Normal People, Sally Rooney
- Becoming, Michelle Obama
- Are You Ready to Play Outside?, Mo Willems
Codman Square:
- Ethic, Ashley Antoinette
- The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
- Smile, Raina Telgemeier
- Dog Man and Cat Kid, Dav Pilkey
- Step-by-Step Medical Coding 2021, Carol J. Buck
- The Cooking Gene: A Journey through African-American Culinary History in the Old South, Michael Twitty
- 1984, George Orwell
- Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler
- Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid
- Normal People, Sally Rooney
Connolly:
- Red at the Bone, Jacqueline Woodson
- Is Rape a Crime?, Michelle Bowdler
- I Really Like Slop!, Mo Willems
- Circe, Madeline Miller
- My New Friend Is So Fun!, Mo Willems
- The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
- The World That We Knew, Alice Hoffman
- Almost American Girl, Robin Ha
- InvestiGators, John Green
- Lord of the Fleas, Dav Pilkey
East Boston:
- Wonder, R.J. Palacio
- Dragon Ball, Gerard Jones & Akira Toriyama
- I Will Take a Nap!, Mo Willems
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
- Dog Man: Fetch 22, Dav Pilkey
- Grime and Punishment, Dav Pilkey
- Dog Man and Cat Kid, Dav Pilkey
- The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
- A Tale of Two Kitties, Dav Pilkey
- The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
Egleston Square:
- His Only Wife, Peace A. Medie
- Followers, Megan Angelo
- Lord of the Fleas, Dav Pilkey
- Notes on Grief, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Dragon Ball, Gerard Jones & Akira Toriyama
- The Lightning Thief, Book 1, Rick Riordan
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling
- Elephants Cannot Dance!, Mo Willems
- Selena: Queen of Tejano Music, Silvia Lopez
- Can I Play, Too?, Mo Willems
Fields Corner:
- Dog Man Unleashed, Dav Pilkey
- Life After Death, Souljah
- Peoples of the World: The Culture, Geographical Setting, and Historical Background of 42 Latin American Peoples by Joyce Moss & George Wilson
- Cat Kid Comic Club, Dav Pilkey
- Pigs Make Me Sneeze!, Mo Willems
- Grime and Punishment, Dav Pilkey
- Brawl of the Wild, Dav Pilkey
- Dog Man 1, Dav Pilkey
- Dog Man and Cat Kid, Dav Pilkey
- I Want My Hat Back, Jon Klassen
Grove Hall:
- Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart
- Wilder Girls, Rory Power
- Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor
- Shadow and Bone, Leigh Bardugo
- Dear Martin, Nic Stone
- Mexican Whiteboy, Matt de la Pena
- Gotham High, Melissa De La Cruz & Thomas Pitilli
- Legendborn, Tracy Deonn
- Grime and Punishment, Dav Pilkey
- Ethic, Ashley Antoinette
Honan-Allston:
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
- Normal People, Sally Rooney
- Are You Ready to Play Outside?, Mo Willems
- Educated, Tara Westover
- The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
- My New Friend Is So Fun!, Mo Willems
- Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler
- I Really Like Slop!, Mo Willems
- Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid
- Circe, Madeline Miller
Hyde Park:
- Dog Man: Fetch-22, Dav Pilkey
- Mothering Heights, Dav Pilkey
- Lord of the Fleas, Dav Pilkey
- Grime and Punishment, Dav Pilkey
- Brawl of the Wild, Dav Pilkey
- Dog Man 1, Dav Pilkey
- Pigs Make Me Sneeze!, Mo Willems
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid 7: The Third Wheel, Jeff Kinney
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid 6: Cabin Fever, Jeff Kinney
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
Jamaica Plain:
- Should I Share My Ice Cream?, Mo Willems
- Happy Pig Day!, Mo Willems
- Are You Ready to Play Outside?, Mo Willems
- Let’s Go for a Drive!, Mo Willems
- Pigs Make Me Sneeze!, Mo Willems
- Lord of the Fleas, Dav Pilkey
- My New Friend Is So Fun!, Mo Willems
- The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
- Dog Man 1, Dav Pilkey
- Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler
Lower Mills:
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
- The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
- The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead
- Four Winds, Kristin Hannah
- Anxious People, Fredrik Backman
- Time for Mercy, John Grisham
- The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
- Cat Kid Comic Club, Dav Pilkey
- The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
- One by One, Ruth Ware
Mattapan:
- Night of the Beasts, Chika Shiomi
- Educated, Tara Westover
- Where Things Come Back, John Corey Whaley
- Fights: One Boy’s Triumph Over Violence, Joel Christian Gill
- The Silver Eyes, Kira Wrisley-Breed & Scott Cawthon
- Last Stop on Market Street, Matt de la Pena
- Ironside, Holly Black
- Tithe, Holly Black
- Killing Time in Crystal City, Chris Lynch
- Rat Runners, OisiÌn McGann
North End:
- A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
- The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
- Daisy Jones & the Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid
- The Guest List, Lucy Foley
- The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen
- The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
- Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid
- Educated, Tara Westover
- Normal People, Sally Rooney
Parker Hill:
- Born a Crime, Trevor Noah
- Normal People, Sally Rooney
- Save Me the Plums, Ruth Reichl
- How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie
- Dog Man and Cat Kid, Dav Pilkey
- The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
- There There, Tommy Orange
- All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
- Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, Eric Litwin
- Lord of the Fleas, Dav Pilkey
Roxbury:
- Dog Man: Fetch-22, Dav Pilkey
- Ao Haru Ride, Io Sakisaka & Inori Fukuda Trant
- Brawl of the Wild, Dav Pilkey
- Too Small, Tola by Atinuke
- Bob Books Beginning Readers Set 1, Bobby Lynn Maslen
- Guts, Raina Telgemeier
- Lord of the Fleas, Dav Pilkey
- I Will Take a Nap!, Mo Willems
- People Before Highways, Karilyn Crockett
- Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls, Dav Pilkey & Jose Garibaldi
South Boston:
- The Silent Patient, Alex Michaelides
- Anxious People, Fredrik Backman
- The Vanishing Hal, Brit Bennett
- Educated, Tara Westover
- Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid
- The Guest List, Lucy Foley
- Four Winds, Kristin Hannah
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
- Daisy Jones & the Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance
South End:
- Normal People, Sally Rooney
- American Spy, Lauren Wilkinson
- She Said, Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
- The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
- Dog Man and Cat Kid, Dav Pilkey
- A Tale of Two Kitties, Dav Pilkey
- Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell
- Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls, Dav Pilkey & Jose Garibaldi
- Brawl of the Wild, Dav Pilkey
Uphams Corner:
- East of West, Nick Dragotta & Jonathan Hickman
- Dog Man and Cat Kid, Dav Pilkey
- Drama, Raina Telgemeier
- Claudia and Mean Janine, Ann M. Martin & Raina Telgemeier
- Sisters, Raina Telgemeier
- Guts, Raina Telgemeier
- Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler
- Ghosts, Raina Telgemeier
- The Truth about Stacey, Ann M. Martin & Raina Telgemeier
- The 36 Dramatic Situations, Mike Figgis & Georges Polti
West End:
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
- Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid
- Anxious People, Fredrik Backman
- Bob Books Beginning Readers Set 1, Bobby Lynn Maslen
- The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett
- All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
- Elephants Cannot Dance!, Mo Willems
- The Overstory, Richard Powers
- My New Friend Is so Fun!, Mo Willems
- Saiyuki Reload, Kazuya Minekura & Lianne Sentar
West Roxbury:
- Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
- Let’s Go for a Drive!, Mo Willems
- Should I Share My Ice Cream?, Mo Willems
- I Really Like Slop!, Mo Willems
- I Am Going: An Elephant and Piggie Book, Mo Willems
- I Will Surprise My Friend!, Mo Willems
- The Thank You Book, Mo Willems
- We Are in a Book!, Mo Willems
- Watch Me Throw the Ball!, Mo Willems
- Pigs Make Me Sneeze!, Mo Willems
Anyone who lives, works, or goes to school in Massachusetts can obtain a BPL library card, or may register for a BPL library eCard at bpl.org/ecard. Patrons can check out physical items by placing holds at bpl.org or on the BPL to Go app; by visiting any open branch, or by calling 617.536.5400.
