People loaned more books from public libraries in 2024

Total book loans from libraries in 2024 rose by 3.6% to 710,399 according to data by the National Statistics Office.

Data published on Thursday showed book loans increased by 24,930, with public libraries in the Southern Harbour and Western district registering the largest increases at the rates of 3.1% and 6.3% respectivley.

In Gozo, the majority of book loans were registered at the public library of Victoria numbering 28,471, followed by Nadur public library with 24,225 book loans.

The library at Fgura had most of the increase in book loans among the libraries of the Southern Harbour district, such that alone it represented over half of the gains in this district year-on-year.

With reference to the Western district, the public libraries of Attard and Siġġiewi recorded most of the book loans respectively amounting to 42.3% and 16.3% of the total registered in the district.

The public libraries of the Northern harbour district and the South Eastern district registered a decrease of 16.8% and 3.8% respectively. Compared to the previous year, the biggest decrease in book loans in the Northern harbour district was registered in Birkirkara (21.9%).

In the same district however, the libraries in San Ġwann and Pembroke registered an increase of 20.8% and 14.5% in book loans, respectively.

With reference to the South Eastern district, the biggest drops in book loans were recorded in the localities of Żejtun and Żurrieq, with a 26.2% and 17.8% decrease.

In 2024, book acquisitions amounted to 42,849, up by 7.4% when compared to the preceding year. The biggest increase has been registered in printed book purchases that rose by 1,222, followed by printed book donations with an increase of 899, and eBooks acquisitions with an increase of 847.

New members of public libraries in 2024 stood at 7,954, down by 2.9% when compared to the preceding year. Likewise, the share of persons over the age of 18 among the new library members went down from 46.3% to 42.6%.

The number of books and periodicals received by the National Library of Malta under legal deposit amounted to 1,180, up by 10.1% when compared to 2023. As in previous years, the number of books exceeded the number of periodicals.