Hometown Hayley pens Wollongong's most borrowed book in 2023

Australian awards. International awards. Multiple, prestigious awards.

That's why her unabashed joy at having the most-read book at Wollongong City Libraries for 2023 is quite so wonderful.

Dirt Town, set in rural Australia details how a community, specifically its younger members, deal with the disappearance of a 12-year-old.

It was borrowed 1221 times across the city's library services - topping the year's adult fiction list.

Those stats (and the awards) put to rest the fears Ms Scrivenor once harboured about her mum, Danina, being the only person who would ever read the book.

"It's one of those things you have in your mind when your writing," the Wollongong-based Ms Scrivenor said.

"Knowing that people in Wollongong have read it - and are still reading it - is special to me."

As are libraries themselves, the writer and a former director of the Wollongong Writers Festival explained.

"Libraries are one of the few public spaces where you can exist without a cost.

"I have spent a lot of time in libraries - and written a lot in libraries."

Australian fiction by female authors dominated with seven out of the top 10 adult fiction most borrowed list.

And as impressive as that sounds, it's one down on last year when female authors topped the pops in Wollongong.

From the junior titles, the redoubtable Harry Potter series has enjoyed a revival of sorts.

J.K. Rowling's series has been discovered by a new generation of younger readers and effectively usurped Anh Do's phenomenal monopoly over the city's junior readers.

There was just one Anh Do title in the top 10 for 2023.

There was little surprise a couple of Bluey books were included in the junior picture book list.

Besides everyone's favourite kids' cartoon, Aaron Blabley's rude, mean-spirited pug called Pig also featured twice.

On the graphic novel for adults and young adults front, Alice Oseman's wildly popular Heartstopper series dominated.

Borrowers' continued to move into the digital space with audiobooks proving especially popular in 2023, Wollongong City Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery.

"We're able to see that audiobooks really dominated many of our top 10 lists," Cr Bradbery said.

"This is particularly the case with our junior fiction and is the reason that Harry Potter has made such a strong comeback. Audiobooks accounted for 55 per cent of the loans of those titles."

He said it was "heartening to see so many people engage with the library" by using the online services and platforms.

"Over the past few years, Wollongong City Libraries has been investing heavily in bolstering our digital offerings so that people of all ages can read or listen to a book anywhere, anytime."