The wait for Prince Harry’s book at the Toronto library could take more than a year

It could be more than a year before Prince Harry’s memoir is in the hands of Toronto Public Library readers who have been patiently waiting for some quality time with the explosive book.

There are currently 3,630 holds placed at the Toronto Public Library (TPL) for print copies of Prince Harry’s autobiography ‘Spare’. In just one day, the book sold 400,000 copies, securing the top spot as the UK’s fastest selling non-fiction book in history.

With a 21-day loan period for a book from TPL and 184 copies of “Reserves” currently in stock, it could take readers at the bottom of the list more than a year to secure their copy.

“While we don’t record a peak number of holds when a book is released, we can say that there is more demand for this title than we expected,” said Matt Abbott, TPL’s Collection Development Manager.

“We are in the process of ordering more copies to ensure TPL customers have access to one in the format of their choice.”

There are literally over 5,000 people in Toronto who have so far held Spare in the library (print and digital). Torontonians buying the book are a whole other category, but I actually have 5,000 neighbors who will wait their turn to borrow this drama as long as it’s free

— Kate Sellar (she/her) (@SellarKate) January 11, 2023

For context, TPL’s book with the second highest number of holds currently has only half the waitlist as “Reserve,” with 1,459 holds for “A World of Curiosity.”

However, viewed through a historical lens, other books have received enormous attention, although few have been compared.

Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff, which covers the first nine months of Donald Trump’s US presidency, had a TPL waiting list of 2,287 holds when it was released in 2018.

Almost two decades ago, the hotly anticipated “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” by J. K. Rowling had 4,819 on hold at Toronto libraries when it was first released in 2005 as the sixth novel in the series.

From a literary point of view, it seems that only Harry Potter can compete with the intrigue that readers show for Prince Harry.