Library books often take interesting journeys—people to people, place to place. Ever wonder wonder how many hands have touched the books we check out and how many stories the books have been a part of, aside from those that are held within their pages?
This year, the New York Public Library turned 125 years old. A team of librarians searched through records to find the 10 most checked out books during the library’s existence. These books range from popular children’s stories to novels many of us may remember reading in our high school English classes.
Here’s the list:
“The Snowy Day,” Ezra Jack Keats (485,583 checkouts)
“The Cat in the Hat,” Dr. Seuss (469,650)
“1984,” George Orwell (441,770)
“Where the Wild Things Are,” Maurice Sendak (436,016)
“To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee (422,912)
“Charlotte’s Web,” E.B. White (337,948)
“Fahrenheit 451,” Ray Bradbury (316,404)
“How to Win Friends and Influence People,” Dale Carnegie (284,524)
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” J.K. Rowling (231,022)
“The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” Eric Carle (189,550)
Margaret Wise Brown’s “Good Night Moon” received an honorable mention because the librarian at the time the book was published (1947) wasn’t a fan, so there wasn’t a copy for 25 years.
In addition to these books, the New York Public Library also listed Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” as the most checked out book of 2019.