Covid-19 and Libraries

Have you used your library during lockdown?

If you did not, perhaps you should think about it!

Libraries across England have reported a surge in online borrowing during lockdown.  Seeking escapism and comfort, people are borrowing online e-books, e-magazines and audiobooks.

In the three weeks after lockdown began, 120,000 people joined libraries. It is to be hoped the change will continue when restrictions are lifted.

The pandemic could be a watershed moment for libraries. You can access a library from the safety of your own home. Weekly digital loans from libraries across England doubled in the three weeks after they were closed on 23 March.

In April, three times as many e-books, e-magazines and audiobooks were borrowed, and the trend does not seem to be slowing. In some libraries the figures are up on last year by 600%; Borrowing e-books by 35% and audiobooks 20% in the past two months.

No one ever agrees with booklist selections, but here are some great reads, selected by BBC Culture. (The best books of 2020 so far)

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§  Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

§  How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang

§  American Poison by Eduardo Porter

§  You People by Nikita Lalwani

§  Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez

§  Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby

§  A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet

§  If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

§  The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel

§  Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler

§  Collected Stories by Lorrie Moore

§  Sharks in the Time of Saviours by Kawai Strong Washburn

§  Weather by Jenny Offill

§  Real Life by Brandon Taylor

§  Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

§  Motherwell: A Girlhood by Deborah Orr

§  Apeirogon by Colum McCann

§  Cleanness by Garth Greenwell

§  Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall

§  The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

§  House of Glass by Hadley Freeman

§  ctress by Anne Enright

§  Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

§  Where the Wild Ladies Are by Matsuda Aoko

§  The Death of Comrade President by Alain Mabanckou

§  Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong

§  A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende

§  Our House is on Fire by Greta Thunberg et al