Statistics on Libraries: 2024
When compared to the preceding year, public libraries in the district of the Southern Harbour and in the Western district registered the largest increases in book loans, at the rates of 3.1 per cent and 6.3 per cent respectively. In the sister island of Gozo, the majority of book loans was registered at the public library of Victoria numbering 28,471, followed by Nadur public library with 24,225 book loans (Table 3).
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 per cent of the total registered in the district (Table 3).
Conversely, the public libraries of the Northern harbour district and the South Eastern district registered a decrease of 16.8 and 3.8 per cent respectively. Compared to the previous year, the biggest decrease in book loans in the Northern harbour district was registered in Birkirkara, 21.9 per cent. In the same district however, the libraries in San Ġwann and Pembroke registered an increase of 20.8 and 14.5 per cent 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 percentage decrease respectively (Table 3).
In 2024, book acquisitions amounted to 42,849, up by 7.4 per cent 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 (Table 1).
New members of public libraries, in 2024, stood at 7,954, down by 2.9 per cent 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 per cent (Table 2).
The number of books and periodicals received by the National Library of Malta under legal deposit amounted to 1,180, up by 10.1 per cent when compared to 2023. As in previous years, the number of books exceeded the number of periodicals (Table 4).
The International Trade Statistics for 2024 indicated that, last year, both imports of printed book material and periodicals decreased. Also, both exports of printed book material and periodicals experienced a decrease. Indeed, overall imports and overall exports went down by 8.2 and 19.3 per cent, respectively (Table 5). At the same time, National Accounts data revealed that the total private final consumption expenditure on books grew by 6.1 per cent, while newspapers and periodicals fell by 5.0 per cent (Table 6).
Chart 1. Book acquisitions and loans
Chart 2. New library members
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Chart 3. New public library membership by category (%)
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Note: ‘Other’ includes Guests, Staff members, Teachers and Students attending post-secondary education.
Statistics on Libraries: 2024
- Total book loans stood at 710,399, an increase of 24,930, or 3.6 per cent, over the preceding year.
- Public libraries in the district of the Southern Harbour and in the Western district registered the largest increases in book loans, at the rates of 3.1 per cent and 6.3 per cent respectively.
- New members of public libraries, in 2024, stood at 7,954, down by 2.9 per cent when compared to the preceding year.
Statistics on Libraries: 2024
Additional Tables and Charts
Tables
Methodological Notes
1. Malta Libraries is the public entity which took over the functions of the Libraries Department in 2011. It is responsible for the Malta and Gozo National Libraries, the Central Public Library, the Regional Libraries, the Branch Libraries and the Gozo Public Libraries.
2. With reference to Table 2, from 2019 the new members in the Intermediate 14-17 age group are calculated by taking into account the enrolment of secondary school students as part of the migration process of school libraries onto the Malta Libraries platform.
3. In Table 5, goods are classified according to the Harmonised System division codes:
● 4901 – Printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter, whether or not in single sheets.
● 4902 – Newspapers, journals and periodicals, whether or not illustrated or containing advertising material.
4. In Table 6, ‘Miscellaneous printed matter’ includes:
● catalogues and advertising material;
● posters, plain or picture postcards, calendars;
● greeting cards and visiting cards, announcement and message cards;
● maps and globes.
and excludes:
● pre-franked postcards and aerogrammes;
● stamp albums.
5. A detailed news release calendar is available online.
