Zusak, Fox top 2016-17 lending rights surveys

Books by Markus Zusak and Mem Fox have topped the lists of the highest scoring books in the most recent Public Lending Rights (PLR) and Educational Lending Rights (ELR) report.

This is the second year in a row Zusak and Fox have topped the lists.

The Book Thief (Picador) was the highest scoring book on the PLR chart for 2014-15 to 2016-17, which takes in the results of the three most recent PLR surveys. Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Vintage) and Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project (Text) were second and third respectively.

Mem Fox’s Possum Magic (Omnibus) and Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (Omnibus) are the top two books on the ELR chart for 2016-17, followed by Emily Rodda’s The Forests of Silence (Scholastic).

Zusak has also taken top spot on the PLR’s highest scoring books since 1975-76, ahead of Bryce Courtenay’s Tommo & Hawk and The Potato Factory (both Penguin) in second and third. Recent titles to feature on the chart are Simsion’s The Rosie Project, in sixth; Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North, in 11th; and Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites (Picador) in 14th.

PLR, ELR both up

In the PLR scheme, payments were up on 2015-16, rising from $9.83m to $10.27m. A total of 7545 creators and publishers received PLR payments, up from 7492 in 2015-16. Of the recipients, 7,292 were creators (up from 7240) and 250 (down from 252) were publishers.

ELR payments totaling $12.13m were made to 9996 recipients, up from $12.02m in 2015-16

The rate per copy remained steady in 2016-17 at $2.11 for creators and 52.75 cents for publishers.

In 2016-17, 880 new claimants registered for the programs—the most in one year since 1998-99. A total of 12,962 new claims were made, up from 12,077 in 2015-16.

To read the full 2016-17 annual report, click here.

Category: Local news