The New York Public Library was founded more than a century ago, and as such has seen millions and millions of books checked out through its systems. Now they have released a list of the most checked-out books of all time and at the top is a children’s book about a snowy day that is one of the earliest examples of diversity in children’s books.
In the entire history of the NYPL the most checked out book of all time is a picture book. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats was published in 1962 and has sat on the library shelves ever since. The picture book, about an African-American boy named Peter, enjoying a snowy day is one of the earliest examples of diversity in children’s literature and has been checked out a whopping 485,584 times since it was published!
Here are the other nine books on that top ten list from the NYPL
422,912 checkouts
337,948 checkouts
316,404 checkouts
How to Win Friends and Influence People
284,524 checkouts
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
231,022 checkouts
189,550 checkouts
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