Novel genre explaining borrowings from the public libraries

Authors

• Seppo Suominen Haaga-Helia ammattikorkeakoulu

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23978/inf.127439

Keywords:

Public library borrowings, Factors affecting borrowings, Genre, Helsinki area libraries

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to study the effect of genre on borrowing. A recent study with data from libraries in libraries in the Helsinki region showed that the purchase price, critics in newspapers, hardcover sales and the author's publication history have an impact on borrowing from public libraries impact of genre on borrowing is unclear when other variables affecting borrowing have been controlled. Moreover, the country of birth or the country of residence in some cases of the author is included in the analysis. It is well known that Nordic Noir genre has been rather popular among readers.

 

This study uses conventional regression analysis to combine the effects of various explanatory variables and therefore widen the knowledge on the effect of genre on borrowing.

 

The results indicate that borrowing a novel and purchasing a novel are substitutes since the retail price has a significant positive effect on borrowings, however, the price elasticity is small. Critics reviews in newspapers and weekly magazines and journals are important, so any public knowledge about the book is of great worth.

 

This article studied public library borrowings from libraries in the libraries in the Helsinki region, especially novels for adult citizens. There is a nice list of the 100 most borrowed books each quarter from early 2014 to summer 2021. The total number of quarters is 30 and the total number of observations is 3000 having many novels appearing in more than one top list. The total number of different novels is 727 in the sample. About 60 % of the novels are listed to the top 100 most borrowed list one, two or three quarters. All books have a declining borrowing demand with time, the demand is highest during the launching period. The genre of the novel does not seem to be an important factor in borrowing from public libraries when other determinants have been controlled. Retail price has a positive effect on borrowings, more expensive books seem to be more borrowed and library customers seem to be willing to wait to be able to borrow the novel and they do not purchase the novel. The positive price elasticity is small but still significant.