Happy Pride month! In collecting data for our recently released Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2021, we discovered that 8% of Canadian readers read a book by or about LGBTQIA+ in 2021.

@BookNet_Canada shares insights into buying and borrowing of LGBTQ+ titles during the first quarter of 2022.
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In our Subject spotlight series, we're sharing quarterly data-driven insights into a specific corner of the Canadian book market. Below, we’ll take a look at the sales and library circulation of LGBTQ+ titles in the first quarter of 2022, with the help of our SalesData and LibraryData services.

Buying LGBTQ+

Canadian book buyers' interest in LGBTQ+ titles dropped significantly in the first quarter of 2022. Compared to 2021, the overall sales of LGBTQ+ titles were down 62% over the entire quarter.

Looking at the graph below, sales of LGBTQ+ titles fell during the first quarter in 2022. From January to March 2022, sales of LGBTQ+ titles decreased by 7%. Sales of LGBTQ+ titles in the first quarter of 2021 saw a striking increase in sales — up 163% from January to March.

Line graph comparing book sales between January, February, and March 2021 and 2022 in the LGBTQ+ BISAC category.

The first quarter of 2022 saw increases year-over-year in two of the LGBTQ+ BISAC subcategories:

Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Transgender — up 121%; and
Fiction / LGBTQ+ / General — up 23%.

From January to March 2022, the most purchased LGBTQ+ subcategories were:

Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Gay — 55% of all LGBTQ+ titles sales;
Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian — 20% of all LGBTQ+ titles sales; and
Fiction / LGBTQ+ / General — 16% of all LGBTQ+ titles sales.

Borrowing LGBTQ+

The library circulation of LGBTQ+ titles during the first quarter of 2022 tells a much brighter story. From January to March 2022, library loans and renewals of LGBTQ+ titles were up 10% and 25% respectively from 2021.

Loans and renewals of LGBTQ+ titles trended up for the most part in the first quarters of both 2021 and 2022, shown in the graph below. Over the first quarter of 2022, loans dipped somewhat in February, but by March had returned to the same level as in January. Renewals for this subject category from January to March 2022 increased by 14% over the entire quarter. In the first quarter of 2021, loans steadily increased 58% from January to March, while renewals decreased 14%.

Line graph comparing book loans and renewals between January, February, and March 2021 and 2022 in the LGBTQ+ BISAC category.

Which LGBTQ+ BISAC subcategories were the most popular in Canadian libraries? From January to March 2022, these subcategories saw the greatest increases in library circulation compared to 2021:

Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian — loans up 161% and renewals up 199%;
Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Transgender — loans up 159% and renewals up 130%;
Fiction / LGBTQ+ / General — loans up 17% and renewals up 9%.

During the first quarter of 2022, the most circulated LGBTQ+ subcategories were:

Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Gay — 53% of all LGBTQ+ titles loans and 51% of all LGBTQ+ titles renewals;
Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Lesbian —19% of all LGBTQ+ titles loans and 20% of all LGBTQ+ titles renewals; and
Fiction / LGBTQ+ / General — 16% of all LGBTQ+ titles loans and 19% of all LGBTQ+ titles renewals.