Frequently Asked Questions About Books and Reading
Below are answers to the questions that we receive most often about books and reading. If your question does not appear here or on the I Love Libraries Ask the Librarian web page or the ALA Library Fact Sheets or the American Library Association FAQs, check with your own local public library, or contact the ALA Library at (800) 545-2433, extension 2153 or via e-mail to library@ala.org.
If you're looking to get a book into all the libraries across the country, please see Frequently Asked Questions from Authors and Publishers.
Q. I have some books I no longer want. How can I donate them to libraries?
A. ALA does not accept or distribute donations of books or any other materials. We do have information on book donation programs. You can view this information online on ALA Library Fact Sheet 12, Sending Books to Needy Libraries: Book Donation Programs.
Q. I have a rather old, rare book and I'd like to find out how much it's worth.
A. Please see the online version of the ALA brochure, "Your Old Books," for further assistance. You may want to check your local Yellow Pages telephone directory for an appraiser in your area. Also, the web site of the American Society of Appraisers includes a searchable online database, Find an Appraisal Expert, which can help you find an appraiser in your state. And see the Evaluating Books web page on the web site of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA).
Q. How many books were read last year?
A. There is no reliable way to obtain this information. The closest reliable statistic is the figure for how many hours were spent reading in the United States, which appears in the "Statistical Abstract of the United States" series of books put out every year by the U.S. Census Bureau. The "Statistical Abstract" book series is available online and the tables reporting statistics appear as Adobe Reader PDF documents. See the Information & Communications section of the 2009 edition of the publication, to find the table that reports the numbers of hours spent reading books (as well as hours spent on other activities, such as listening to the radio, watching television, etc.), Table 1089. Media Usage and Consumer Spending: 2001 to 2011 (PDF). This table also reports a number of dollars spent per person to purchase consumer books, newspapers, recorded music, videogames, home video, cable television, etc.
Q. I read a news story in August 2004 about ALA having a list of the most frequently re-read books in libraries.
A. In 2004, an Associated Press reporter asked the American Library Association what were the 10 most frequently re-read books in America's libraries. We responded that there was no data available on this question, but we offered to put the question to a panel, an ad hoc group of librarians and library book review editors with decades of experience working with books in libraries and with public library users coast-to-coast. This work was coordinated by Neal Wyatt, a past chair of the Collection Development and Evaluation Section of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA, a division of ALA).
The books on the list were not ranked and were based on the panelists' professional judgment and knowledge of reading and publishing habits and trends. Further, the panelists acknowledged that religious texts were likely re-read all the time, but decided not to include them on the list, as doing so would be deemed more of a religious than literary judgment. The intent of the list was to select the 10 most re-read novels, plays, poetry, and short stories.
Listed below is the Top 10 Most Re-Read Books List created in July 2004 by the panel:
J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Shakespeare's collected works
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter series
Laura Ingalls Wilder - Little House on the Prairie series
A.A. Milne - Winnie the Pooh
Alice Walker - The Color Purple
Top 10 Most Re-Read Books List Panel:
Neal Wyatt, librarian (Chesterfield County Public Library in Virginia) and past chair of the ALA's Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES)
Nancy Pearl, librarian (Seattle Public Library) and author of Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason
Joyce Saricks, librarian (Downers Grove Public Library in Illinois) and author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction
Ginger Armstrong, librarian (Chesterfield County Public Library in Virginia) and member of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA, a division of ALA)
Book review editors from library trade magazine, Booklist, published by the American Library Association
Book review editors from non-ALA library trade magazine, Library Journal
ALA committee members do regularly compile a variety of book lists and reading lists for library patrons of all ages, including children, teens, and adults, which can be found on ALA Library Fact Sheet 23: Recommended Reading, at:
http://www.ala.org/readinglists
Q. What are the most popular books checked out of libraries?
A. Up until 2004, there was no way to obtain this information. Library circulation statistics are collected at the dry numerical level with no accompanying details, such as the title of the book or whether it's fiction or nonfiction. However, starting with the June 1, 2004 issue, the non-ALA library trade magazine, Library Journal (LJ), introduced LJ's Bestsellers: The Books Most Borrowed in U.S. Libraries, for both fiction and nonfiction book titles. Editor Francine Fialkoff explained in her 6/1/2004 editorial, "128 Years Young," that the bestseller list is "based on aggregated statistics for circulation and holds from public libraries of all sizes around the country. We want to thank the vendors (GIS Information Systems, TLC, and Sirsi) as well as all the individual institutions (which will remain anonymous) whose statistics make this list possible."
Q. I'm looking for the 100 Best Novels List.
A. Actually, it was the Modern Library, which is part of the Random House Publishing Group, which put together this list, not the American Library Association. You can find the list, as well as its nonfiction accompaniment, on the following web pages:
Modern Library: 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100best.htmlModern Library: 100 Best Nonfiction of the 20th Century
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnonfiction.html