What Washingtonians Read in 2022

Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022, 8:31 a.m.News Releases

What Washingtonians Read in 2022

DC Public Library releases list of most popular books borrowed

D.C.'s Favorite Reads of 2022. See what you checked out, streamed and downloaded the most!

In 2022, more than 5 million items were borrowed, streamed or downloaded from the DC Public Library.

Washingtonians were interested in books that were mentioned in popular culture like Jennette McCurdy's I'm Glad My Mom Died. Readers also rediscovered Frank Herbert’s Dune as interest in the new movie franchise grew. Library programming also impacted the popularity of titles. How The Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With The History Of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith was the center of a month-long series of discussions and events as part of the 2022 DC Reads program in September. During that month the Library offered unlimited electronic copies. As a result, more than 2,000 copies of the book were checked out.

"Not only do DC residents read a lot, but they have wide reading interests, evidenced by the eclectic list of fiction and non-fiction titles that were popular in 2022," said Richard Reyes-Gavilan, executive director, DC Public Library. "We are proud to be able to offer so much content in so many formats to satisfy the needs of the District's voracious readers."

Below are this year’s most popular items by type and format. Scroll down or click on one of the links below to jump to a specific section. Want to check out one of the books, magazines or videos? Just click on the image!