No "Spare" copies of Harry's memoir at Twin Cities libraries

Libraries across the Twin Cities are seeing high demand for Prince Harry's shocking new memoir.

What happened: More than 1,100 Hennepin County Library patrons had already joined the queue for one of 48 copies of the print edition as of 6:30am on release day.

• Roughly 730 listeners had requested a copy of the audiobook, which is shared among metro libraries.
• By midday, metro-wide reservations for the audiobook had ballooned to 1,044, per the library. The eBook, which is also shared across metro libraries, had 1,148 holds.

The big picture: "Spare," which hit shelves Tuesday, climbed to the top spot on Amazon and Barnes & Noble in the U.S. and Britain following a "press frenzy" prompted by juicy leaks and pre-publication interviews, Axios' Hope King writes.

• Random House is said to be printing 2.5 million hardcover copies for North America alone.

What they're saying: Joshua Yetman, a spokesperson for Hennepin County Library, told Axios that such high demand isn't unusual for hot titles by big names.

• The library has seven additional physical copies of the book on order and plans to buy more this month, now that an annual end-of-year purchases pause instituted as part of the budget process has been lifted, he said.

Zoom in: Axios checked with several other libraries across the metro Tuesday to gauge interest:

• St. Paul Public Library patrons might get to pore over the pages a bit sooner: The system has 42 hard copies and there were just 164 holds as of late Tuesday, a spokesperson told Axios. The library also logged 33 holds on four audio copies.

• Dakota County Library ordered 36 print copies, but already had 361 holds as of midday Tuesday. Twenty-two patrons were in line for three copies of the audiobook.
• Carver County had 67 requests for its four print copies.
• Ramsey County, which has seven locations in suburbs around St. Paul, had 250 holds for 22 print copies.
• Anoka County had 163 holds for 20 print copies.

Editor's note: This story was updated with details on St. Paul Public Library's reservations.