Boise library broke checkout record in 2025. What did readers want most?
Boise bookworms broke a personal reading record in 2025.
The Boise Public Library reached more than 1 million digital checkouts in 2025, setting a record, according to a Jan. 21 news release from Overdrive. The digital distribution platform is used by libraries worldwide.
“As the need for flexible, on-demand access to books and media continued to grow, libraries expanded their digital collections to meet readers where they are,” Overdrive representatives said in the release. “Delivering record usage across e-books, audiobooks, digital magazines and streaming video.”
Curious to know if you picked up one of the most popular titles?
Here what library users loved the most in 2025:
What is Boise Public Library system?
The Boise Public Library provides patrons access to physical books, e-books, audiobooks, CDs, movies, TV shows, video games and more. According to its 2023 annual report, the library has more than 370,000 physical items in its collection.
The Boise Public Library system has five locations:
- Collister: 4724 W. State St.
- Cole and Ustick: 7557 W. Ustick Road
- Downtown: 715 S. Capitol Blvd.
- Hillcrest: 5246 W. Overland Road
- Brown Crossing: 2153 E. Riverwalk Drive
Which books did Boise library users check out in 2025?
According to Kathy Stalder, the Boise library system’s acquisitions and technical services manager, the most popular book and audiobook loans of 2025 included fantasy, science fiction and crime novels.
These books and e-books got the most checkouts in 2025:
- “The Women” by Kristin Hannah
- “The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About” by Mel Robbins
- “The God of the Woods” by Liz Moore
- “James” by Percival Everett
- “Onyx Storm” by Rebecca Yarros
- “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach
- “Great Big Beautiful Life” by Emily Henry
- “All the Colors of the Dark” by Chris Whitaker
- “The Frozen River” by Ariel Lawhon
- “Funny Story” by Emily Henry
These are the top audiobooks across all ages:
- “The Women” by Kristin Hannah
- “The Housemaid” by Freida McFadden
- “Onyx Storm” by Rebecca Yarros
- “Quicksilver” by Callie Hart
- “James” by Percival Everett
- “Educated” by Tara Westover
- “The Four Winds” by Kristin Hannah
- “The Tenant” by Freida McFadden
- “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
- “Shield of Sparrows” by Devney Perry
What were most popular titles by age group?
These titles were the most popular with adult users:
- “Onyx Storm” by Rebecca Yarros
- “Strangers in Time” by David Baldacci
- “The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About” by Mel Robbins
- “Battle Mountain” by C.J. Box
- “Nightshade” by Michael Connelly
These were the top books and audiobooks checked out by teenagers:
- “Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins
- “Fearless” by Lauren Roberts
- “Rebel Witch” by Kristen Ciccarelli
- “No Place Left to Hide” by Megan Lally
- “Our Infinite Fates” by Laura Steven
Popular picks for children ages 12 and under included:
- “Baby-sitters Little Sister: Karen’s Prize” by Shauna Grant
- “Minecraft Movie: Welcome to the Overworld!” by Dennis Shealy
- “I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919” by Georgia Ball
- “Pokemon Visual Companion” by Simcha Whitehill
- “Big Nate: Attack of the Cheez Funk Breath!” by Lincoln Peirce
Stalder said her favorite personal read in 2025 was “The Raven Boys” by Maggie Stiefvater. The library’s marketing manager, Shivaun Korfanta, told the Idaho Statesman that she favored “In the Woods” by Tana French.
Boise Public Library Director Jessica Dorr said that each book she read to complete the library’s annual Ultimate Book Nerd challenge was her favorite. The challenge tasks library patrons with reading 50 books from 50 categories, according to the library’s website.
What were most popular movies, video games and music?
Boise library patrons also borrowed digital and physical copies of popular movies, video games and music CDs in 2025.
According to Stalder, these movies were the most popular with library users of all ages:
- “Wicked”
- “Moana 2”
- “A Complete Unknown”
- “Gladiator II”
- “Conclave”
Stalder said library patrons of all ages checked out these video games the most:
- “Donkey Kong Country Returns”
- “Paper Mario: The Origami King”
- “Black Myth: Wukong”
- “Cat Quest: The Fur-tastic Trilogy”
- “Goat Simulator 3”
These were the top music CD checkouts for all ages:
- “Hamilton: Original Broadway Cast Recording” by Lin Manuel Miranda
- “Folklore” by Taylor Swift
- “Now That’s What I Call a Decade: 1980s”
- “Evermore” by Taylor Swift
- “Speak Now: Taylor’s Version” by Taylor Swift
Why are wait times for digital holds so long?
As demand for digital content has seen “slow and steady growth,” so have the wait times for that content, according to Stalder.
The library manager told the Statesman that libraries are required to pay for each individual checkout on digital content and have to repurchase access to content whenever they run out of those checkouts.
The Boise Public Library has to repurchase its stock of digital content to keep up with demand, according to Stalder.
“We don’t have any ownership of (those titles); even when we buy a perpetual access to something that doesn’t actually give us ownership of it,” Stalder said. “It just means that we can perpetually circulate it.”
In contrast, each title in the library’s collection of physical media can be loaned to library members one at a time for as long as it lasts.
“When we buy a (physical) copy, we own it, and then we can check it out to people,” Stalder said. “The understanding is that we’re checking it out to one person at a time.”
“The more demand digital content has, the more expensive it can be for the library to keep up with,” Stalder said.
As of Thursday, Feb 5, the current wait on Overdrive for Boise Public Library’s most popular title, “The Correspondent” by Virginia Evans, was up to 22 weeks.
Readers interested in “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir were facing a 21-week wait, while those hoping to read “The God of the Woods” by Liz Moore may have to wait up to 15 weeks.
If you’re tired of waiting to check out an e-book, Stalder said, you can likely pick up a hard copy at your local library quicker.
“We know it might not be your preferred way, but you’ll get it faster because it’s cheaper,” she said.
What services does Boise Public Library provide?
Libraries are a “lifelong institution,” the library director told the Statesman.
“We have a vision of being the place where everyone in Boise goes to grow,” Dorr said. “We really are focused on helping everyone in Boise find access and opportunity.”
Dorr said the library is focused on helping children to learn to read, especially at the appropriate level. “When you’re a student, we want to keep you at grade level reading and help you find what interests you, and find your community,” Dorr said.
“We’ve just rolled out a program called 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten,” which emphasizes the importance of print literacy, Dorr said. “We have literacy kits for different age groups. (It’s) also aimed at the basic ways that we can help parents and caregivers set up kids so that they can be ready to read.”
The Boise Public library offers many educational services and community building opportunity for kids and teens, including story times, video game nights and driving lessons and education classes.
The library also offers access to public computers and informative services and resources, including access to volunteer lawyers, an on-site social worker, health and housing resources.
This story was originally published February 6, 2026 at 4:00 AM.
