What Seattle has been checking out at the library in 2022 ... CDs?!

Throughout 2022, the Seattle Public Library has been noting what its patrons have been checking out, reading, and listening to. Recently, it's come up with a few interesting local observations. One such big takeaway: Seattle is still checking out CDs?!

Yep. The Seattle Public Library boasts a nice CD collection and locals are using it. While listing the most popular checked out items for different forms of media, the library notes the top checked-out CDs were:

• "30" by Adele
• "Raise the Roof" by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
• "In These Silent Days" by Brandi Carlile
• "Red" (Taylor's version) by Taylor Swift
• "Wet Leg" by Wet Leg

According to a spokesperson, while CDs are still offered and checked out, they are not among the most popular forms of media engaged with at the Seattle Public Library. Books, ebooks, and audiobooks are far more popular. Still, it's pretty cool that Seattleites are rocking the CDs, enough for the library to have a top-five list. The library also offers DVDs, video cassettes, and vinyl records. In fact, SPL has around 1,500 such records in its collection.

Across the entire library system, Seattle checked out more than 11,161,759 books in 2022. "The Sentence" by Louise Erdrich was checked out the most (3,135 times).

"Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer was the top audio book checked out by patrons (4,914 times).

"The House of Broken Angels," by Luis Alberto Urrea was the top ebook (5,146 times).

When it comes to what Seattle is primarily interested in, it appears that readers around town are primarily interested in intrigue.

Seattle's top library genres in 2022

1. Detective and Mystery
2. Graphic novels
3. Thrillers
4. Historical fiction
5. Cookbooks

Check out more observations and takeaways from 2022 at the Seattle Library's website.

Correction: This blog post originally implied that CDs were among the most checked out form of media at the Seattle Library in 2022. Rather, the CDs listed in this post were the most popular of that form of media, but CDs were not among the most popular forms of media in 2022. Books, ebooks, and audiobooks were far more popular.