Public Servant Lifestyle

Travelogues are flying off library shelves at British libraries.

Travelogues continue to be a big with Brits choosing to prepare for their holidays with a personal story, rather than a factual travel guide.

Findings from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) show that travellers are getting their inspiration from top lending authors Bill Bryson, Christopher Somerville and Carol Drinkwater.*

While the library shelves offer a taste of distant lands with the big brand holiday guidebooks, filled with statistics and advice, it seems what readers really want is a personal story.

Travel Titles

Although the ever-popular Lonely Planet and the Rough Guides feature prominently in the travel titles that people take out on loan, these quickly give way to increasingly popular travel stories such as Bryson’s Down Under, Drinkwater’s The Olive Harvest and Somerville’s Coast.

Only in London do borrowers show their more practical streak, with Lonely Planet’s Spain and France, and the Rough Guide to France topping the chart. While borrowers in the North and Scotland prefer to delve between the pages of guides to their own areas, with Buckley’s Peak District walking on the level and Brown’s Fife Coastal Path featuring top respectively.

Bill Bryson continues to account for the bulk of books borrowed – although, ironically, borrowers are opting to sample the delights of Britain, with Bryson’s famous look at the British Isles: Notes from a Small Island and Somerville’s Coast featuring in the top two nationally.

John Dolan, Head of Library Policy, MLA comments: "As thoughts start turning to the holiday season it’s fascinating to look at what travel titles library users choose to borrow. We have found that the nation’s borrowing habits have changed little in the past five years. Bryson’s books are still the most popular, although more recently they have been joined by other authors relating their own experiences of life or travel abroad. People don’t need to catch a flight when they can experience other countries through the pages of a library book for free.

"Public libraries can take people wherever they want to go - whether it’s discovering new places to visit, finding out about holiday destinations, learning a new language via audio CDs, or just stocking up on some great holiday reads."

Television tie-in books also feature quite strongly, with former Monty Python Micheal Palins' continued success as a travel documentary maker - with the likes of his BBC series Around The World In Eighty Days and Pole To Pole - reflected in his success in the loans of his tie-in books.

The top ten most borrowed travel and holiday books are:*

1. Down Under – Bill Bryson
2. Notes from a Small Island – Bill Bryson
3. Coast – Christopher Somerville
4. The Olive Harvest: A memoir of love, old trees and olive – Carol Drinkwater
5. Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows across the World – Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman with Robert Uhlig
6. Journey to the South: a Calabrian homecoming – Annie Hawes
7. The Rough Guide to Spain – Mark Ellingham, John Fisher, Geoff Garvey et al
8. Himalaya – Michael Palin
9. Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe – Bill Bryson
10. Parrot in the Pepper Tree – Chris Stewart

The MLA and the nine regional agencies work in partnership to provide strategic direction and leadership for museums, libraries and archives across England. Together these agencies work to improve people’s lives by building knowledge, supporting learning, inspiring creativity and celebrating identity. The Partnership acts collectively for the benefit of the museums and library sector and the public, leading the transformation of museums, libraries and archives for the future. For more information about the work of the MLA and the 'Designation' scheme, visit The Museum's, Libraries & Archives Council website.

The Public Lending Right (PLR) - who carried out this research - was established by an Act of Parliament back in 1979. Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), PLR works to gives authors the legal right to receive remuneration from government for the public’s use of their works through the public library system.

*Research provided by the Public Lending Right (PLR). Figures relate to book loans during the period July 2005-June 2006.

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