Statistics on Libraries: 2023
When compared to the preceding year, public libraries in the district of Gozo and Comino and in the district of the Southern Harbour registered the largest increases in book loans, at the rates of 9.6 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively. In Gozo, the majority of book loans was registered at the public library of Victoria numbering 30,962, followed by Nadur public library with 24,253 book loans (Table 3).
Despite the fact that the majority of the libraries of the Western district had increases in book loans, the locality of Ħaż-Żebbuġ registered a significant drop (87.1%), such that this locality contributed to the overall drop of 9.7 per cent in this district year-on-year.
The public libraries of the South Eastern district also registered a decrease (6.8 per cent) in book loans. Compared to the previous year, the biggest decrease in book loans from the public libraries was registered in Ħal Għaxaq (8,473), Gudja (5,615), and Mqabba (3,488). On the other hand, in the same district an increase of 48.5 per cent in book loans was registered in the public library of Marsaxlokk (5,682) (Table 3).
With reference to the Northern district, the public libraries of Mosta and Naxxar recorded most of the book loans amounting respectively to 50.5 and 15.0 per cent of the total registered in the district. (Table 3).
In 2023, book acquisitions amounted to 39,881, up by 24.1 per cent when compared to the preceding year. The biggest increase has been registered in book donations that rose by 4,902, followed by eBooks with an increase of 3,892. On the other hand, the acquisition of book purchases recorded a drop of 1,037 when compared with the previous year (Table 1).
New members of public libraries, in 2023, stood at 8,188, up by 37.7 per cent when compared to the preceding year. Likewise, the share of persons over the age of 18 among the new library members went up from 41.1 to 46.3 per cent (Table 2).
The number of books and periodicals received by the National Library of Malta under legal deposit amounted to 1,072, up by 21.7 per cent when compared to 2022. Last year, the number of books overtook the number of periodicals (Table 4).
Data of the International Trade Statistics indicated that, last year, imports of printed book material increased while periodicals decreased. On the other hand, exports of printed book material decreased while periodicals increased. Indeed, overall imports went up by 9.2 per cent, whereas overall exports went down by 13.4 per cent (Table 5). At the same time, National Accounts data revealed that the total private final consumption expenditure on books; and newspapers and periodicals grew by 2.0 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively (Table 6).