ZARAGOZA, Aug. 14 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Book loans in Zaragoza’s municipal libraries during the summer have increased by 18% compared to the same period in 2023, after users responded favorably to the new schedule implemented by the City Council on June 24.
Previously, during the summer, municipal libraries, whether neighbourhood or district, were only open in the afternoon on Mondays, whereas now district libraries are open alternately from Monday to Thursday and neighbourhood libraries maintain the previous schedule, the Zaragoza City Council has reported.
The aim of this modification is to ensure that residents always have a municipal centre nearby to go to and that they also function as climate shelters during the summer in the city.
“We wanted to ensure that users had access to our centres throughout the week, and we are very satisfied with the response that the data has given us,” said the Councillor for Education of the Zaragoza City Council, Paloma Espinosa, who recalled that it is always a priority for the current Government team “to improve the quality of services in all neighbourhoods.”
8% MORE LOANS SO FAR IN 2024
In addition, these figures add to the 8% increase in the volume of loans in Zaragoza libraries, with 255,970 uses in total, compared to 237,574 the previous year, and most of the centres have increased their activity compared to 2023.
The most notable cases are the Andresa Casamayor library (Rosales del Canal), whose loans have increased by 36% in 2024; the Manuel Alvar library (Delicias), by 24.85%; or the Javier Tomeo library (El Rabal), by 6.4%.
As for the Bibliobús – the mobile library that travels and makes stops in different neighborhoods – it has increased its lending activity by almost 31% in 2024.
This service, promoted by Zaragoza City Council to guarantee access to reading throughout the city, is adapting to the needs of each district and neighborhood of the capital, and is already preparing its return in September with a new distribution at its stops.
In other news, 11,120 people used the study rooms and libraries during the exam period, after the Ricardo Magdalena (Las Fuentes) and Benjamín Jarnés (Actur) libraries adapted their schedules from May 13 to July 3 for the second consecutive year to provide sufficient study rooms for students preparing for the Evau and finals.
PROMOTING READING ALL YEAR ROUND
The Zaragoza City Council, through the Municipal Board of Education and Libraries, continues to work to bring these municipal centres closer to the neighbourhoods, turning them into centres of community activity, and promoting reading and learning at all stages of life.
To make them known, the ‘Take, read, return’ campaign was also repeated this summer in municipal swimming pools, where 1,300 books were taken so that users could also take a “literary dip” during their holidays.
An initiative framed within the “More than reading” program, which also includes the cultural activity of the Kiosk of Letters in the José Antonio Labordeta Park.
Throughout the year, the City Council carries out actions to promote reading, such as the celebration of International Children’s and Young People’s Book Day, Public Reading on the occasion of Book Day, the development of the Criticón Prize, in which more than 1,000 schoolchildren participate, or the ‘Pequelecturas’ programme, to introduce the world of reading to the youngest members of the family.
For the last four months of the year, an intense activity is already being prepared, with the highlight being Library Month in October, when all the city’s centres prepare activities aimed at all audiences, such as workshops, meetings with authors, readings for young people and adults, among others, and which seek to put books, and culture in general, at the centre of the lives of the people of Zaragoza.
