Memoirs by Prince Harry and the late Matthew Perry were among the top circulated items at the Orillia Public Library in 2023, during a year that saw readership and circulation climb once again.
In 2023, the library had a total circulation of 319,335 items — a jump over the 301,534 items circulated in 2022, and the 310,944 items circulated in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
Library CEO Bessie Sullivan estimates the growth in circulation ties into the lull everyone experienced through the pandemic, and the fact that Orillia Public Library offers a variety of entertainment — for free — during a period of rampant inflation across the country.
“I think people turned to the library through COVID, and haven't really stopped,” she told OrilliaMatters. “It became a place where people could get inexpensive entertainment, and we were also bored at home.”
Aside from fiction and non-fiction books for children and adults alike, DVDs, Nintendo Switch games, and “adventure kits” that provide the opportunity for families to get active and explore were widely circulated at the library last year.
Listed below are the top 10 circulated items from the Orillia Public Library across a variety of categories for 2023.
Top 10 fiction books
- I Only Read Murder by Ian and Will Ferguson
- A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham
- Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult
- Desert Star by Michael Connelly
- No Plan B by Lee Child
- The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr
- Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks
- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Top 10 non-fiction books
- Spare by Prince Harry
- Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
- The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama
- I’m Glad by Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
- The Wager by David Grann
- The Watchmaker’s Daughter by Larry Loftus
- Pageboy by Elliot Page
- Outsider by Brett Popplewell
- True Reconciliation by Jody Wilson-Raybould
- Jennie’s Boy by Wayne Johnston
Top 10 children's books
- The Pigeon Has to Go to School by Mo Willems
- We are in a Book by Mo Willems
- Walrus vs. Elephant Seal by Jerry Pallotta
- The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui Sutherland
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down by Jeff Kinney
- Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
- Refugee by Alan Gratz
- Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000 by Dav Pilkey
- Phyllis’s Orange Shirt by Phyllis Webstad
Top 10 DVDs
- A Man Called Otto
- The Banshees of Inisherin
- Top Gun: Maverick
- Amsterdam
- Elvis
- The Fabelmans
- The Whale
- Ticket to Paradise
- Living
- Jurassic World: Dominion
Top 10 Library of Things items
- Nintendo Switch Games
- Mobile Hotspot Kits, which provide mobile internet access for those who need
- Adventure Kits
- Puzzles
- Seed Library
- Ontario Parks Passes
- Launchpads, educational tablets pre-loaded with apps, videos, and games
- Wye Marsh Passes
- Light Therapy Lamps
- Fishing Gear
