my %booklist_l; @booklist_l{ @book_id_list } = ( { title => 'empty', update_id => 'missing' } ) x scalar @book_id_list; #### $booklist_l{ $book_id } = $sth->fetchrow_hashref; #### $booklist_l{ $book_id } = { %{$sth->fetchrow_hashref} }; #### foreach $book_id (keys %booklist_1) { my $r = $booklist_l{$book_id}; print "XXX $book_id > $r->{'update_id'} -- from $r\n"; }