Cape Town's overdue library books: Why 'Wimpy Kid' remains a favourite
Cape Town’s most overdue books? Wimpy Kid tops the list yet again.
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The Diary of a Wimpy Kid craze shows no sign of slowing in Cape Town — at least not when it comes to overdue library books.
The bestselling series once again dominates the City’s list of most outstanding children’s titles, claiming the top six spots as libraries prepare for the year’s final Fine Free Week from 15 to 20 December.
City libraries say 10 025 children’s books, valued at more than R2,2 million, are still missing — and a remarkable portion of them are Jeff Kinney favourites. This echoes long-running trends: previous City campaigns in 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025 all flagged Wimpy Kid as the most-forgotten and most-in-demand item among young readers.
This year’s top six overdue titles are all Kinney books:
- The Deep End — 29 copies
- Wrecking Ball — 29 copies
- The Getaway — 26 copies
- Big Shot — 23 copies
- Double Down — 23 copies
- The Meltdown — 23 copies
They’re followed by Peppa Loves Reading (20 copies), Hard Luck (19), Cinderella (17) and Boy Crazy Stacey (15).
Councillor Francine Higham, Mayco Member for Community Services and Health, urged families to use the once-off amnesty to help restore collections.
"It is heartening to see our children’s love for books and how they want to read them over and over. By returning books, we can share the joy of a story and find new adventures to go on.
Parents, please encourage your children to return their books, as it helps keep our collections diverse and teaches them responsibility. We want to ensure fair access to our material for everyone, but to do that, we need outstanding items to be returned," she said.
The Fine Free Week applies to all patrons under 18 and allows them to return overdue items without paying fines. Young patrons can also apply for a free replacement library card during this period.
Libraries and recreation centres will run holiday programmes featuring snake and puppet shows, games, movies, and arts and crafts.
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