Data provided by Jacksonville Public Library | Chart by Megan Mallicoat, Jacksonville Today
Published on May 8, 2026 at 10:59 am
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Ready to sit down with a good book? The Jacksonville Public Library has thousands to choose from — specifically: 1,790,733 physical materials in its collection, plus 132,515 e-books and 120,640 audiobooks for you to enjoy.
You can place a hold on books and pick them up at any branch of your choice. Our Number of the Week is the active holds in the library’s system as of May 5: more than 22,000.
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22,297
The most coveted book right now is a debut novel by Allen Levi, Theo of Golden, with 337 holds.
And don’t get your heart set on reading Virginia Evans’ newest novel, The Correspondent, any time soon; 289 people are already ahead of you in line for the No. 2 most-held book.
How long of a wait will it be, exactly?
“The goal is to help keep wait times from stretching too long, ideally no more than a couple of months,” library spokesperson Lauren Ferro tells Jacksonville Today. She says the library uses a holds ratio to help manage wait times: For print materials, they aim for about four holds per copy. For digital materials: around 10 to 12 holds per copy, “which is in line with other library systems our size.”
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“So, someone far down a hold list would not necessarily have to wait through 200 separate checkout cycles. The number of copies available, the format, and whether we’re able to purchase additional copies all factor into how quickly the list moves,” she wrote in an email.
Top library check-outs
The Jacksonville Public Library has 133,489 active users. So far this year, kids’ books account for half of their Top 10 check-outs — and three of those are Diary of a Wimpy Kid books from Jeff Kinney’s immensely popular illustrated novel series.
When it comes to digital check-outs, the list skews more…adult. And by that, we mean Jax Public Library users who choose to consume books via e-reader or audio-only like their romance novels. The library uses two electronic platforms: Libby and Hoopla. The top three check-outs of the year so far through OverDrive/Libby are romance novels. Similarly, most of the Top 10 check-outs this year through Hoopla, are romance novels and psychological thrillers in audiobook form — though the first Harry Potter book did crack the list, at No. 9.
