Out of millions of books and dozens of genres, there is one story that sticks out for Brooklynites and beyond. The Brooklyn Public Library, one of the nation's largest library systems, has announced the most borrowed books in its quasquicentennial history.
In the 125 years the library system has served New Yorkers and others who frequent its locations, the system has acquired more than 2.86 million physical items and 250,000 digital materials. To celebrate its birthday, the system has spent the past few weeks unveiling the 125 most borrowed books out of that collection.
And it turns out that Brooklyn's most beloved books cover a wide range of genres and themes, from The Cat in the Hat and Naruto: Volume 1 to Wuthering Heights, The Old Man and the Sea, and Murder on the Orient Express.
But only one title could top the list - Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are - first published in 1963.
The award-winning children's classic tells the story of Max, an imaginative child who, dressed in a wolf suit, travels to the world of the Wild Things where he joins them in a rumpus and becomes their king. The library has 145 physical copies of the beloved story, as well as five audio versions.
Children's books as a whole dominated their list, with many spots going to Dr. Seuss, whose real name is Theodor Geisel.