How many books do you think you read in a year?
A 2016 Pew Research Center survey, with a national sample of 1,520 adults, showed that Americans read an average of 12 books a year, and the typical (median) American had read four books in the last 12 months. For ages 65 and up, the average was 13 and the median was three.
However, Madylene J. Wilson, 78, of Edinburgh, estimates that she reads 150 to 200 books — per month.
“I probably have read over a thousand books or more,” said Wilson, who’s enjoyed reading from a young age.
However, she also noted that if she starts a book and it doesn’t appeal to her, she’ll put it back and find another.
“She checks out a good 40 books at a time,” said Michelle Bishop, who works in adult circulation at the Bartholomew County Public Library.
Gail Krebbs, Wilson’s daughter, added that since there’s a 50-item-limit per person, her mother will frequently check out more books with Krebbs’ card. They go to the library maybe once a month, Krebbs said.
“When she says it’s time to go to the library, I just do it,” she added. “I don’t think about it.”
Krebbs will drop off Wilson at the library, with the other woman requesting at least an hour there. Bishop said librarians have a system for loading up her paperbacks and hardbacks into a large duffle bag so that it doesn’t topple over when placed on a cart or walker for transport. In addition to helping with Wilson’s books, they also make sure that she’s picked up safely, Bishop said.
“She loves coming to the library,” Krebbs said. “She gets upset if she can’t come. It’s a very important thing in her life.”
During the pandemic, Wilson kept reading. She would pick out books on her daughter’s laptop, write the titles down and call the library to place holds. Krebbs would get a text when the books were ready and then use the library’s curbside service to pick them up.
“She’s constantly reading,” Krebbs said. “…I just know she’s always got a book in her face.”
Wilson enjoys newspapers, mysteries, suspense stories and novels by James Patterson and Mary Burton.
In a twist that’s a bit ironic, given her love of murder mysteries, Wilson said that reading helps calm her nerves when she’s anxious or “shaky.”
Krebbs also said that she thinks her mother enjoys “being able to escape, to get into something.”
