When the Library closed its physical locations in March to stop the spread of coronavirus, our patrons were quick to adapt to the new, online-only normal. Readers embraced e-books, checking out over 2 million books since March 13. Sixty-five thousand new users signed up for the Library’s free e-reader app, SimplyE, available on iPhone and Android. Library branches may have been closed, but New Yorkers were still reading, still depending on the crucial services NYPL provides.  

Our list of top e-checkouts below is a glimpse into the diverse interests of our patrons, and the vital role the Library plays in educating and informing people as they grapple with the issues of today. The Library’s monthly virtual book club choices, all of which were available with unlimited access to patrons, are well represented, including July’s title, The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Whitehead’s book and How to Be an Antiracist were also featured on the Library’s Black Liberation Reading list, curated by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in response to the global uprisings calling for justice for Black lives.   

Now that the Library has begun to gradually reopen, with patrons able to place holds and pick up physical books at 8 locations (expanding to 30 next week), our patrons have responded enthusiastically. New Yorkers have placed more than 23,000 holds on books to pick up now that our branches are reopening.

Check out which titles made our top e-checkouts below. Plus, find out what books New Yorkers have most put on hold since our initial reopening on July 13.

Top E-Checkouts (since March 13, 2020)

1. White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

2. The Glass Hotel: A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel

3. My Dark Vanessa: A Novel by Kate Elizabeth Russell

4. The Dutch House: A Novel by Ann Patchett

5. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

6. Becoming by Michelle Obama

7. The Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehead

8. How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi

9. Normal People: A Novel by Sally Rooney

10. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
     

Top Physical Book Holds (since July 13, 2020)

1. Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump

2. The Dutch House: A Novel by Ann Patchett

3. The Order: A Novel by Daniel Silva

4. Blindside by James Patterson and James O. Born

5. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

6. The Guest List: A Novel by Lucy Foley

7. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

8. Normal People: A Novel by Sally Rooney

9. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

10. Such a Fun Age: A Novel by Kiley Reid

Keep reading, New York! Sign up for The New York Public Library's Book of the Day e-newsletter, and you'll get a daily book-recommendation email delivered to your inbox each morning of 2020. Sign up now.