Nashville Library Breaks Record With Demand For Harper Lee’s ‘Go Set A Watchman’

Harper Lee’s “Go Set A Watchman” has arrived in record-setting numbers at the Nashville Public Library.

To meet the demand, Noel Rutherford uses a combination of guesswork and technology to choose how many copies to buy.

“We knew this was going to be big. We only placed one order: 132 copies on the hardcover. We didn’t have to do a second order. We guessed correct,” said Rutherford, 
collections development and acquisitions manager.

That hardcover number is in addition to eBooks and audiobooks. Altogether, the library has 269 editions — which is quadruple the number of copies of a typical bestseller. (There’s even one Spanish-language eBook, although no one has requested it). Librarians like the turnaround time on eBooks, which is typically faster than others, allowing the items to circulate faster.

So Rutherford gets to brag a little bit — her team has this down to a science. For every three people who want a book, the library has one on hand. They run reports every day to keep track, in case they need to order more. If they hit a ratio of five-to-one, computer software sends an alert.

So far, “Go Set A Watchman” is off the charts: A record 696 Nashvillians were on the waiting list Wednesday afternoon. Of those, the 311 waiting for electronic editions is also a record, by far. But the ratio of demand to copies has remained within Rutherford’s target range.

Without a doubt, the book is hard to find at a library branch — unless you’re lucky. It’s not very well known, but the library does slip a few copies of bestsellers into its branches to be placed on what’s known as the 
“Lucky Day” table
.

That’s where Sunshine Crum-Thompson found one this week. She took to Facebook to gloat.

“It pays to walk by the ‘Lucky Day’ section at the library and literally swipe the LAST copy! What!?! It’s my birthday holla,
” she wrote.

It actually was her birthday.

“There’s at least one copy of [
“Watchman
“
] available
at one-third of our branches,
” Rutherford said, 
“
and
I won’t say which branch, because there will be a mad rush to all these.”

So expect to wait a little bit.

But know that the library was better prepared than for what was the previous record-holder: In Nashville, Harper Lee has now dethroned “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

“Go Set A Watchman” at the 
Nashville Public Library 

132 hardcover books

16 large print

16 audiobooks

67 eBooks

37 e-audiobooks

1 Spanish-language eBook