Harry Potter and the busy librarian

Gallery: See the 10 most borrowed titles here

Patterson was named the number one library author for the second year, with more than 1.5 million loans, said Public Lending Right, which examined lending between July 2007 and June last year. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins was the most popular science book and the most borrowed holiday guide was France (Lonely Planet Country Guide) by Nicola Williams.

Enid Blyton was the most in demand classic author, followed by Roald Dahl and Agatha Christie. Britain's most borrowed children's author Jacqueline Wilson, along with Daisy Meadows and Nora Roberts all topped a million loans during the period.

Thriller writer Patterson said: "I'm absolutely delighted to be the most borrowed author in UK libraries for the second year running. I firmly believe libraries are an integral part of any community and essential in really helping to share and to spread the joy of reading great books. It's great to know my stories are so popular with the UK audience."

Gallery: See the 10 most borrowed titles here

The most borrowed authors

1.James Patterson
2.Jacqueline Wilson
3.Daisy Meadows
4.Nora Roberts
5.Francesca Simon
6.Mick Inkpen
7.Josephine Cox
8.Danielle Steel
9.Janet and Allan Ahlberg
10.Ian Whybrow
11.Ian Rankin
12.Julia Donaldson
13.Enid Blyton
14.Lauren Child
15.Roald Dahl
16.Lucy Cousins
17.Eric Hill
18.Katie Flynn
19.Alexander McCall Smith
20.Anna Jacobs