Topline:
Thousands of Los Angeles Public Library patrons are waiting for a virtual copy of Britney Spears's memoir, which went viral on the day of its release.
How many holds: Over 6,000 people are waiting for the audiobook at the time of writing, while nearly 4,000 users placed a hold on the e-book.
How many copies: LAPL acquired nearly 1,000 copies of the audiobook and more than 600 copies of the e-book.
How long is the wait: Currently, the estimated wait time for both the e-book and audiobook is over three months.
Other popular titles: Some other examples of titles with similar levels of demand are Michelle Obama's autobiography Becoming and Prince Harry's memoir Spare.
Readers in Los Angeles have been saying “gimme more” to the Britney Spears memoir The Woman in Me — and the L.A. Public Library has responded by acquiring hundreds of copies of the book to keep up with demand.
Currently, more than 6,000 people are in line for one of the 969 audiobook copies of The Woman in Me. Meanwhile, nearly 4,000 users are waiting for 614 copies of the e-book. The estimated wait time for both versions is more than three months, according to the reservation system on Wednesday.
Excerpts of The Woman in Me have been going viral prior to the book’s release last week. Spears shared revelations about her relationship with Justin Timberlake, her father’s control over her life before her conservatorship ended, and her natural hair color, which according to the book is black.
A clip of actor Michelle Williams, who narrated the audio version of the book, imitating Timberlake saying “fo shiz” to Ginuwine made the rounds online the very day the memoir was released. This may have contributed to the high demand for the audiobook rather than the e-book, according to LAPL staff.
“With most titles, there's usually more of an e-book demand,” LAPL electronic resources librarian Eileen Ybarra told LAist. “That's a little surprising to me, but considering it went viral, that makes sense. Anything that is viral or that is well known in the media or press, e-books, audiobooks, anything like that is going to have high demand always.”
The demand is also high outside of the LAPL, but the waitlists are much shorter at other area libraries. At the Burbank Public Library, about 70 patrons are waiting for the e-book version and 40 have placed holds on the physical copy, according to its reservation system. At the Altadena Library, only six patrons have active holds on the book.
The LAPL has gotten in on the fun on social media, even posting a video making fun of the long wait times.
This high level of demand puts Spears in a prestigious category with world-famous authors and prominent political figures. According to Ybarra, the list of other titles that saw this level of demand includes Michelle Obama’s autobiography Becoming, the Harry Potter books, and Prince Harry’s memoir Spare.
The physical copy of The Woman in Me is in less demand at the LAPL: At the time of writing, about 480 users are waiting on 49 copies.
“I’m a patron too, and sometimes the e-book is extremely, incredibly popular, and then I've just checked the paper list, and it's shorter,” Ybarra said. “Or I don't have to wait at all, so I'll get the paper copy instead.”
But if you’d rather wait in line and hear Williams’ narration for yourself, that’s your prerogative.
