Who reads what? The surprising patterns hidden in 17 million library loans
The Czech Republic boasts one of the densest library networks in Europe. But who exactly uses these libraries, and what do their reading habits look like? Drawing on data from roughly 17 million loans made over three years at Prague's Municipal Library, data journalist Michal Kašpárek uncovered a number of intriguing patterns. At what age do men and women read the same books? Who are the library's ‘super-users’? And how do readers' interests change over the course of a year? Ruth Fraňková spoke to Kašpárek about what the data revealed.
Of all the patterns hidden in the data, was there anything that really took you by surprise?
"Not much, really. It doesn't happen often that an analysis simply confirms what I already knew beforehand.
"There were, however, a few interesting findings. One thing that surprised me was that children aged 6 to 10 read quite a lot about etiquette and good manners. That seems to go against the stereotype of rude teenagers.
"Another finding I found amusing was the popularity of topics such as the wives of kings and the mistresses of kings among people over 50. Interest in the wives starts at around 45 years of age. Then, 10 or 15 years later, people start becoming interested in the mistresses. I don't know why."
Previous research has shown that women tend to use libraries more than men. But your analysis identified one age when boys and girls borrow books at almost exactly the same rate. When is that, and why do women subsequently borrow significantly more books than men?
"I was surprised that children aged 6 to 10 read so much about etiquette and good manners. It goes against the stereotype of rude teenagers."
"The ratio is roughly one to one between the ages of 6 and 10. That is because schools organise visits to libraries, children are given free library cards, and they do not have to pay for them until the age of 15.
"After the age of 10, however, girls remain much more interested in reading. The biggest gap appears around the age of 35. At that age, there are several female readers for every male reader."
Do women and men eventually return to more or less the same rate?
"The gap narrows from about the age of 50 onwards, but it never returns to a one-to-one ratio."
You also found that men and women read remarkably similar books around the age of 18, but then their reading preferences diverge sharply. Why do their tastes come together at that age, and what causes them to drift apart later?
"It is quite easy to explain. At the age of 18, both young men and young women have to read the same books for their state exams. That is why authors such as Ernest Hemingway are so widely read at that age.
"Shortly afterwards, once the exams are over, the differences in taste grow rapidly. Men and women between the ages of 20 and 30 show the greatest divergence. We measure taste by looking at how many titles they share among the 100 most-read books for their age group.
"I think this is because their interests are very different at that stage of life.
"Later, their tastes begin to converge again. By the age of 30, many people start borrowing children's books. Both men and women borrow books for their children and read to them."
What did your data reveal about how Prague residents use the library network? Do they tend to stick to their local branch, or do they travel across the city for their books?
"They mostly stick to their local branch. The average user visits two branches a year out of the network's 50 branches.
"The average library user visits just two branches a year out of 50. But around a dozen 'super-users' visit 25 or more."
"But I also found a small group of super-users. These are people who visit 25 or more branches in a single year. There are around a dozen of them.
"Unsurprisingly, most of these super-users are either young children or retired people. They simply have more time to travel around Prague and borrow books from different branches."
Your analysis also revealed something interesting about library cards. What led you to conclude that many cards are actually shared by several members of the same household?
"It is difficult to say exactly how many cards are shared.
"One reason I believe this happens is that library staff told me it is quite common for one person, often a woman, to manage the family's library cards. She lends them to her husband and children and takes care of renewing them each year.
"The data also provide some clues. In about one percent of cases, books such as Fifty Shades of Grey and other erotic literature were borrowed on cards belonging to children under the age of 10, who are obviously unlikely to be interested in that genre.
"It is therefore reasonable to assume that a child may have received a library card during a school visit, and that a parent later used the card to borrow books for themselves."
What do your data tell us about how often people actually use the library? How many books does a typical reader borrow in a year?
"The typical reader borrows nine books a year. Half borrow fewer than that and half borrow more.
"That figure only includes people who borrowed at least one book during the year. My data do not include people who have a library card but never use it.
"There are certainly people who hold a library card and never visit the library."
How much do readers' habits follow the calendar year? Were there any seasonal trends that particularly surprised you?
"There was nothing particularly surprising. The trends were remarkably consistent.
"After New Year, people become interested in self-improvement. They borrow books about healthy cooking, diets, sport and personal productivity. As January progresses, interest in these topics gradually declines.
"Before the summer holidays, people borrow detective novels and travel guides, books that help them relax and enjoy their vacations.
"After the summer break, when school starts again, it becomes clear that some children are struggling. Parents begin borrowing books about speech therapy and various speech difficulties.
"Then, before Christmas, interest shifts towards biblical stories, Christmas traditions, carols and related topics."
Finally, I wanted to ask about some of the most borrowed titles over the past three years. What were they, and what do they tell us about Czech readers today?
"By far the most borrowed title was Diary of a Wimpy Kid, an international bestseller.
"There is one catch, however. It is not a single book but a series of around 20 books, and all of them appear under the same title in the data.
"The most borrowed novel for adults was The Leaning Church by Czech writer Karin Lednická. The novel is set in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and portrays the difficult lives of people in the North Moravian region.
"This theme is something many of the most borrowed books have in common. They often focus on the hardships faced by previous generations and on historical periods that were far more difficult to live through than today."
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