Top ILL titles for 2025

We recently noted that books (regular print), DVDs, and large print were the top 3 most-requested formats in the NHAIS ILL System last year. Now let's look at the titles involved and include the 4th most-requested format: audiobook CDs. Bearing in mind that a multi-copy request for 10 copies creates 10 separate requests and that these statistics are largely driven by demand from book groups, here are the ranks for the 100 most-requested regular-print books along with the counts for requests created (but not necessarily filled) in our ILL system from January 1 to December 31, 2025:

1. The frozen river : a novel / Lawhon, Ariel 1,374
2. James : a novel / Everett, Percival 1,111
3. The berry pickers : a novel / Peters, Amanda 815
4. The women / Hannah, Kristin 700
5. How to read a book : a novel / Wood, Monica 527
6. The god of the woods / Moore, Liz 464
7. Remarkably bright creatures : a novel / Van Pelt, Shelby 356
8. The lion women of Tehran / Kamali, Marjan 348
9. The wedding people : a novel / Espach, Alison 335
10. North woods : a novel / Mason, Daniel 284
11. West with giraffes : a novel / Rutledge, Lynda 280
12. Small things like these / Keegan, Claire 271
13. The measure : a novel / Erlick, Nikki 265
14. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store / McBride, James 258
15. The Thursday murder club / Osman, Richard 247
16. Tom Lake : a novel / Patchett, Ann 245
17. Horse / Brooks, Geraldine 237
18. The Briar Club : a novel / Quinn, Kate 218
19. Unlikely animals / Hartnett, Annie 209
20. Becoming Madam Secretary / Dray, Stephanie 202
21. Lady Tan's circle of women : a novel / See, Lisa 184
22. The midnight library / Haig, Matt 183
23. The ride of her life : the true story of a woman, her horse, and their last-chance journey across America / Letts, Elizabeth 181
24. The rose code : a novel / Quinn, Kate 174
25. The secret life of sunflowers / Molnár, Márta 173
26. The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo : a novel / Reid, Taylor Jenkins 171
27. The lost bookshop / Woods, Evie 170
28. All the colors of the dark : a novel / Whitaker, Chris 165
29. The housemaid / McFadden, Freida 160
30. Broken country : a novel / Hall, Clare Leslie 153
31. This is happiness / Williams, Niall 146
32. Finding Margaret Fuller : a novel / Pataki, Allison 145
33. The correspondent : a novel / Evans, Virginia 145
34. Time of the child / Williams, Niall 145
35. Lessons in chemistry / Garmus, Bonnie 140
36. The art thief : a true story of love, crime, and a dangerous obsession / Finkel, Michael 140
37. The borrowed life of Frederick Fife : a novel / Johnston, Anna 138
38. Orbital / Harvey, Samantha 137
39. The lioness of Boston : a novel / Franklin, Emily 136
40. The salt path / Winn, Raynor 136
41. Demon Copperhead : a novel / Kingsolver, Barbara 133
42. Grandma Gatewood's walk : the inspiring story of the woman who saved the Appalachian Trail / Montgomery, Ben 123
43. Go as a river / Read, Shelley 120
44. The personal librarian / Benedict, Marie 120
45. Anxious people : a novel / Backman, Fredrik 115
46. Theo of golden : a novel / Levi, Allen 115
47. The book of lost names / Harmel, Kristin 113
48. The demon of unrest / Larson, Erik 110
49. The book club for troublesome women : a novel / Bostwick, Marie 105
50. The anxious generation : how the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness / Haidt, Jonathan 103
51. Wild dark shore / McConaghy, Charlotte 102
52. All the beauty in the world : the Metropolitan Museum of Art and me / Bringley, Patrick 101
53. How to age disgracefully / Pooley, Clare 101
54. Vera Wong's unsolicited advice for murderers / Sutanto, Jesse Q. 101
55. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine / Honeyman, Gail 100
56. The collected regrets of Clover / Brammer, Mikki 100
57. Tell me everything : a novel / Strout, Elizabeth 98
58. The let them theory / Robbins, Mel 97
59. Code name Hélène : a novel / Lawhon, Ariel 96
60. The four winds / Hannah, Kristin 96
61. Hello beautiful : a novel / Napolitano, Ann 95
62. Lula Dean's little library of banned books : a novel / Miller, Kirsten 95
63. The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks / Skloot, Rebecca 95
64. The silent patient / Michaelides, Alex 95
65. The reading list : a novel / Adams, Sara Nisha 94
66. Our missing hearts : a novel / Ng, Celeste 92
67. The extraordinary life of Sam Hell : a novel / Dugoni, Robert 92
68. The nightingale / Hannah, Kristin 92
69. Project Hail Mary : a novel / Weir, Andy 91
70. The devil in the white city : murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America / Larson, Erik 91
71. The island of missing trees / Shafak, Elif 91
72. Everyone in my family has killed someone / Stevenson, Benjamin 90
73. Magnolia table : a collection of recipes for gathering / Gaines, Joanna 90
74. The first ladies / Benedict, Marie 90
75. The history of sound : stories / Shattuck, Ben 89
76. The magnificent lives of Marjorie Post : a novel / Pataki, Allison 89
77. The maid / Prose, Nita 89
78. Winter garden / Hannah, Kristin 89
79. Absolution / McDermott, Alice 88
80. American dirt / Cummins, Jeanine 88
81. Mad honey : a novel / Picoult, Jodi 86
82. The keeper of happy endings / Davis, Barbara 86
83. The road to tender hearts : a novel / Hartnett, Annie 86
84. Yours truly / Jimenez, Abby 86
85. A tree grows in Brooklyn / Smith, Betty 85
86. Before we were yours : a novel / Wingate, Lisa 85
87. Parable of the sower / Butler, Octavia E. 85
88. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / Twain, Mark 84
89. Gather / Cadow, Kenneth M. 84
90. Heartwood : a novel / Gaige, Amity 84
91. The echo of old books : a novel / Davis, Barbara 84
92. The many lives of Mama Love : memoir of lying, stealing, writing, and healing / Hardin, Lara Love 84
93. The guncle : a novel / Rowley, Steven 83
94. Crow Mary : a novel / Grissom, Kathleen 82
95. The complete autumn & winter cookbook : 550+ recipes for warming dinners, holiday roasts, seasonal desserts, breads, food gifts, and more / America's Test Kitchen 82
96. My friends : a novel / Backman, Fredrik 81
97. Pride and prejudice / Austen, Jane 81
98. Isola : a novel / Goodman, Allegra 80
99. The Christmas tree farm / Gilmore, Laurie 80
100. Sipsworth : a novel / Van Booy, Simon 78

Here are the large print titles with at least 20 ILL requests created last year:
     
1. The frozen river : a novel / Lawhon, Ariel 192
2. Remarkably bright creatures : a novel / Van Pelt, Shelby 98
3. James : a novel / Everett, Percival 96
4. The berry pickers : a novel / Peters, Amanda 73
5. The women : a novel / Hannah, Kristin 68
6. West with giraffes : a novel / Rutledge, Lynda 57
7. The god of the woods / Moore, Liz 51
8. The Thursday murder club / Osman, Richard 50
9. How to read a book : a novel / Wood, Monica 35
10. All the light we cannot see / Doerr, Anthony 31
11. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store / McBride, James 31
12. The lion women of Tehran / Kamali, Marjan 28
13. Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet / Ford, Jamie 27
14. The kitchen front / Ryan, Jennifer 26
15. Lessons in chemistry / Garmus, Bonnie 25
16. Finding Margaret Fuller : a novel / Pataki, Allison 24
17. North woods : a novel / Mason, Daniel 23
18. The art thief : a true story of love, crime, and a dangerous obsession / Finkel, Michael 23
19. All the colors of the dark : a novel / Whitaker, Chris 22
20. The postmistress / Blake, Sarah 22
21. Plum Island / DeMille, Nelson 21
22. The wedding people a novel / Espach, Alison 21
23. Carnegie's maid / Benedict, Marie 20
24. News of the world / Jiles, Paulette 20    
25. The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo / Reid, Taylor Jenkins 20 

Here are the audiobook CD titles with at least 10 ILL requests last year:

1. The frozen river : a novel / Lawhon, Ariel 22
2. The berry pickers : a novel / Peters, Amanda 17
3. Remarkably bright creatures : a novel / Van Pelt, Shelby 16
4. West with giraffes : a novel / Rutledge, Lynda 13
5. Horse : a novel / Brooks, Geraldine 11
6. Demon Copperhead : a novel / Kingsolver, Barbara 10 

And here are the titles on DVD for 2025 that had at least 10 ILL requests created:

1. Killers of the flower moon 23
2. Conclave 15
3. Jaws 13
4. Young Frankenstein 13
5. Greyhound 12
6. Nightmare Alley 12
7. All the president's men 11
8. NCIS, Naval Criminal Investigative Service / The twenty-first season 11
9. The French connection 11
10. A few good men 10
11. Apollo 13 10
12. The way we were 10

A few observations...on the regular-print book list, 21st-century fiction rules, largely with works from the last 5 years. There are just two 20th-century books here: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (#85) and Parable of the Sower (#87). Representing the 19th century are Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (#88) and Pride and Prejudice (#97). There are 13 nonfiction works, of which two are cookbooks, three involve long, late-life treks (two on foot and one on horseback), and two are by Erik Larson. Other authors with two titles in the top 100: Ariel Lawhon, Kate Quinn, Annie Hartnett, Niall Williams, Allison Pataki, Marie Benedict, Fredrick Backman, and Barbara Davis. Kristin Hannah has four titles in the list.

On the DVD list, the 1970s are still with us, 50 years on. Looking at the request counts here, you might think more large print books than DVDs were requested overall last year. In fact, there were 14,135 requests created for DVDs and 8,743 for large print in 2025 but apparently the DVD requests were spread across more titles. The different seasons of TV series count as different titles but, if we combined requests for different seasons, Gilmore Girls, All Creatures Great and Small, Murdoch Mysteries, Hacks, 1923, and Professor T would join NCIS on the list of DVD titles with at least 10 requests created last year.

Remember that the counts here represent requests created but not necessarily filled. It's possible some items were requested multiple times on their way to getting filled. 

No CD van Thu 2/26

Due to driver illness, we needed to cancel the Capital District van route today [Thursday, Feb. 26].

The following libraries will not be receiving deliveries today:

Hopkinton
Boscawen
Canterbury
Loudon
Chichester
Epsom
Pembroke
Allenstown
Hooksett
Bow
Dunbarton

Thank you,
Jacob Kowall
Reference Librarian
New Hampshire State Library

No LR, NC, SW-A, SW-B vans Wed 2/25

For various reasons, most of the ILL van routes have been cancelled for today [Wednesday, Feb. 25].  Only the libraries on the Wednesday SE route will receive deliveries. These libraries are:

Northwood
Center Strafford
Barrington
Rochester
Somersworth
Dover
Madbury
Lee
Durham
Portsmouth
New Castle
Rye
North Hampton

Thank you,
Jennifer M. Finch, MSLIS
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library
 

Public Library Survey Walkthrough - Week Three

Welcome to Week 3 of the Public Library Survey (PLS) -- Holdings, Physical Circulation, and Electronic Content Usage, OH MY!
(Earworm of the Day: "We're Off to See the Wizard")
 
Hello, everyone. I'm sorry that I've been indisposed for the last couple of weeks and unable to answer your questions. It was so heartwarming to open my email this morning and discover that you all have been steadily working on your surveys and submitting them in my absence. Thank you so much! 

I’ll get back to those of you who sent questions ASAP.
 
This week we’ll be working on sections 4 through 6 of the PLS - Holdings, Physical Circulation, and Electronic Content Usage.
 
Section 4.0 - Holdings
 
4.1 - Physical Holdings
 
“Holdings counts” represent the number of items in your collection as of the last day of the reporting period you have chosen for your library, which is either the calendar year or the fiscal year. (Reminder from last year: the IMLS no longer wants the counts of serials holdings and instructs libraries to omit the numbers of print periodicals from all categories of Physical Holdings on the survey.)
 
-Print Materials – The total number of print books in your collection – both hardcover and paperback. If the number of volumes is not available, report the number of titles in your collection along with a note explaining that this is a title count.
-Audio – Physical Units – The number of physical items in your collection that are audio recordings, including music CDs, audiobooks on CD, and Playaways, as well as any other audio formats. Any items that have multiple CDs packaged and circulated together are counted as one.
-Video – Physical Units – The number of items in your collection that are video recordings in a physical format. Multiple items that are packaged and circulated together -like a full season of a TV show - should be counted as one.
-Other Circulating Physical Items – The number of other items in your collection that do not fall into the above categories but may be checked out such as garden tools, cooking pans, games, phone chargers, telescopes, etc. Any items that are packaged, and circulated together as a set, should be counted as one.
-Current Print Serial Subscriptions – The number of magazine, journal, and newspaper titles that your library subscribes to in paper. Multiple issues of the same title received under the same subscription for the year in question count as one.
 
4.2 - Electronic Holdings Access
 
In this section, IMLS wants a simple YES or NO answer as to whether your library provided access to the e-material types mentioned. The answers for the "via State" questions have been prefilled. You only need to complete the fields asking if you provided access to various e-materials locally (your Local Library) and/or through a Consortium. These questions refer to the electronic resources that you have purchased for your library, directly or through a local consortium, not through the state library. When answering, do not consider any items that are freely available on the web.
 
Unlike the statewide NHDB statistics, we have no knowledge of your local holdings or the digital content that is available through your consortiums. Please contact your vendor for that information. We can only provide limited guidance on these questions.
 
-E-Books via Local Library and E-Books via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium (including NHDB) – For these questions, consider the eBooks that your library has purchased that have a circulation period and a due date. These would include Advantage titles purchased from Overdrive, Hoopla, and other platforms.
-E-Serials via Local Library and E-Serials via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium (including NHDB) – For these questions, consider electronic newspapers, magazines, and similar media included in platforms like Zinio and Flipster that your library purchases directly or through a consortium.
-E-Audio via Local Library and E-Audio via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium (including NHDB) – For these questions, “E-Audio” refers to digital files of sound only (e.g., audiobooks, music) that may be accessed online from an electronic device that your library has purchased that have a circulation period and a due date. These would include services such as Hoopla, Advantage titles purchased from Overdrive, and other platforms.
-E-Video via Local Library and E-Video via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium (including NHDB) – For these questions, E-videos are digital files of moving visual images with or without sound (e.g., movies, television shows) that may be accessed online from an electronic device.
-Research Databases via Local Library and Research Databases via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium – For these questions, research databases are organized collections of electronic data or records (e.g., facts, abstracts, articles, bibliographic data, texts, photographs) that can be searched to retrieve information.
-Online Learning Platforms via Local Library and Online Learning Platforms via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium – Online learning platforms primarily provide instruction, tools, and resources to enhance education, lifelong learning, and skill building. Platforms may offer homework assistance, language learning, test preparation, professional development, resume assistance, hobby instruction, etc.
 
Reminder: IMLS just wants a simple YES or NO answer as to whether your library provided access to the e-material types mentioned.
 
Section 5.0 - Physical Circulation
 
-Automatic Renewal of Physical Materials (Yes/No) – This should be straightforward. If your ILS offers automatic renewal of physical materials checked out to patrons, answer YES. If your PLS does not have this feature or you do not offer this at your library, answer NO.
-Circulation of Print Materials – The total number of print materials for all age groups circulated for the year, including renewals. If you allow your print magazines and newspapers to be checked out, those circulations are counted here, along with books.
-Circulation of Audio Physical Units – The total number of physical audiobooks and music for all age groups circulated for the year, including renewals.
-Circulation of Video Physical Units – The total number of video items (movies, television shows) in any physical format for all age groups circulated for the year, including renewals.
-Circulation of Other Physical Items – The total number of physical items that do not fall into the above categories for all age groups circulated for the year, including renewals. This would include items like video games, puzzles, telescopes, etc.
-Circulation of Children’s Physical Materials – The number of physical children’s items circulated in all formats, including renewals.
-Circulation of Young Adult Materials – The number of Young Adult items circulated in all formats, including renewals. If your library does not have a separate count for these items, select “Unavailable” and click the notepad to leave a note to that effect.
-Interlibrary Loans Provided to Other Libraries (Outgoing) – The total number of items your library sent to other libraries for their patrons to borrow. Do not include the number of items transferred from one branch to another in the same system.
-Interlibrary Loans Received from Other Libraries (Incoming) – The total number of items sent to your library from other libraries for your patrons to borrow. Do not include the number of items transferred from one branch to another in the same system.
 
Need a reminder of how to find your ILL figures? This blog post covers how to retrieve your interlibrary loan numbers: https://nhais.blogspot.com/2026/02/finding-your-ill-stats.html 
 
Note: Consortium kits are counted as one unit if they are packaged together and sent together. If you own a kit and send it out to another library, that counts as one outgoing ILL. Unlike a traditional ILL, a kit is often forwarded to another library without first being returned to its home library, so the forwarding library does not count that as an ILL. The receiving library counts it as one incoming ILL.
 
Section 6.0 - Electronic Content Usage
 
This is where you enter the usage numbers for each type of local Electronic Holdings that you reported above for your library. The fields containing data about statewide databases and New Hampshire Downloadable Books (NHDB) have been pre-filled and are grayed out. You won’t be able to change them. They are the numbers reported to us by the content vendors for each participating library. If you have questions about any of the numbers you see here, please let me know. The totals for each category are also grayed out and will change as you enter your local numbers.
 
-Local E-Book Circulation – The combined total number of all eBook circulation of items that your library has purchased directly or through a consortium, not from the State Library.  If your library provides access to Hoopla, the number you will add here is the same one that was used for holdings.
-Local Downloadable Audiobook Circulation –– The combined total number of all audiobook circulation of items that your library has purchased directly or through a consortium, not from the State Library. If your library provides access to Hoopla, the number you will add is the same one used for holdings.
-Local Downloadable Music Circulation – The combined total number of circulations of digital music items provided on platforms like Naxos Music and Hoopla that were purchased directly by the library or through a consortium.
-Local Downloadable Video Circulation – The combined total number of all video circulation of items that your library has purchased directly or through a consortium These include movies and TV shows that can be streamed from platforms like Hoopla and Kanopy.
-Local Electronic Magazine Circulation – These are online collections, such as periodical databases, whose items can be accessed without any due dates. Typically, these are databases with records that can be downloaded and retained by the user. Do not include any collection that is available freely on the open web.
 
If you don’t provide eResources in one of these categories beyond those offered through the State Library, then the usage was zero. Please enter the number zero here. Do not use “Unavailable”.
 
Golly, that was another long one, but we are nearing the halfway point, folks. As always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me at 603-271-2060 or jennifer.m.finch@dncr.nh.gov. I’ll be back next week to lead you through the next steps of our survey. (And as before, feel free to continue this journey without me!)
 
Warmly,
Jen

Jennifer M. Finch, MSLIS
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library
N.H. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
20 Park St.
Concord, NH 03301
Office: 603-271-2060
Ref Desk: 603-271-2144
Jennifer.M.Finch@dncr.nh.gov 

No SE-B van Tue 2/24

The SE-B ILL delivery route is cancelled today [Tuesday, Feb. 24]. The following stops will not receive a delivery:

Auburn
Derry
Windham
Pelham
Londonderry
Litchfield
Hudson
Nashua
Hollis
Milford
Amherst
Merrimack
Bedford
Manchester

Thank you,
Jennifer M. Finch, MSLIS
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library

No LR, SE-B, SW, SW-B vans Mon 2/23

Due to the weather, all ILL van deliveries have been cancelled for today (Feb. 23) EXCEPT the North Country Monday route libraries. The NC will receive deliveries.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Be safe,
Jennifer M. Finch, MSLIS
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library

Z39.50 MARC record sources

In the wake of BTCat's demise, NHAIS Services continues to talk to vendors, seeking additional options for catalogers to download MARC records.

In the meantime, you can use the Z39.50 Target Directory to find potential sources of records. Not all of what's listed actually works and you'll have to determine for yourself whether these sources meet your needs. To keep results on the Z39.50 Target Directory manageable, we suggest choosing United States for Country and Z39.50 for Protocol. If you leave Type of Library blank, your results will include the catalogs of a lot of colleges. You may want to limit Type of Library to Public or (for schools) Education or (for Library of Congress) National.

If your catalog doesn't have Z39.50 searching built in, you can use the free Z39.50/SRU Client that's part of MARCEdit.

ILL outage Tue 2/17 10pm

The NHAIS ILL System will be offline briefly starting at 10 o'clock tonight (Tuesday, Feb. 17). This outage, which should last around 15 minutes, is for basic maintenance and does not include any program changes.

No SW-A van Fri 2/13

Due to driver illness, we needed to cancel the SW-A ILL route today [Friday, Feb. 13].

The following stops will not receive a delivery today:

Dartmouth College
Hanover - Howe
Lebanon
Meriden
Claremont
Charlestown
Alstead
Keene
Marlborough
Dublin
Peterborough
Wilton
Mont Vernon
New Boston

Thank you,
Jacob Kowall
Reference Librarian
New Hampshire State Library