Administrative data which has been provided by Malta Libraries revealed that, last year, total book loans stood at 617,820, a decrease of 428,049, or 40.9%, over the preceding year, the National Statistics Office said today.

Restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic meant that last year libraries were closed between the 30th of March and the 25th of June.

Although fewer books were borrowed than than last year, Nadur Library still had the highest number of book loans in Gozo during 2020, with a figure of 26,357, in 2019 it was 46,539.

On a national basis, book acquisitions last year amounted to 36,706, down by 23.1% when compared to the preceding year. Both book donations to and book purchases by public libraries were of a lower volume, when compared to the previous year. In contrast, the acquisition of eBooks increased by 43.4%, the NSO said.

New members of public libraries, in 202, stood at 5,641, down by 7.1% when compared to new members for the previous year. Persons under the age of 18 made up two-thirds of public libraries’ new members.

The number of books and periodicals received by the National Library of Malta under legal deposit reached 963, a decrease of 39.0% when compared to 2020. The relative share of periodicals remained constant, the NSO said.

The NSO said that imports of printed book material and periodicals continued their downward trend last year and stood at €9.8 million.On the other hand an increase of 25.2% was reported in the export of book material.

The share of money spent on printed material in the total private final consumption expenditure increased by 0.16 percentage points, when compared to the preceding year, the NSO said.

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