In the last four years, the libraries of the Basque Public Reading Network have grown by 48% in loans and the reduction caused by the epidemic has practically been covered. Last year, the network gave 2,740,425 loans and paper (2,618,524) is still strong compared to digital media. In addition, 253,363 loans were granted between libraries, that is, when a user cannot find a book in their library, it is sent to them from another person. The network brings together 976,465 people and last year more than 42,000 new users were registered. During the celebration of International Book Day tomorrow, the Department of Culture and Linguistic Policy at the Basque Government has published the figures of its services.
The most requested titles in Spanish were ‘Waiting for the Flood’, by Dolores Redondo, ‘The Thief of Faces’, by Ibon Martín, and ‘El cuco de cristal’, by Javier Castillo, and in Basque titles were ‘Bar Gloria’, by Nerea Ibarzabal, ‘Eraikuntarako materiala’, by Eider Rodriguez, and ‘Azken etxea’, by Arantza Urretabizkaia.
The Library Service of the Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Basque Government created the Euskadi Public Reading Network in 2004 with the aim of bringing together all public libraries in Euskadi, creating collaboration and improving their services. The foundation of the network is the municipal libraries, but they include the library of Ignacio Aldecoa of the Regional Council of Araba and Koldo Mitxelena Kulturunea of the Regional Council of Gipuzkoa to enter. Other libraries owned outside the city are also included (Basque Government Central Library, Arantzazu Library, HABE,…). Currently, the Basque Public Reading Network consists of 297 libraries in 198 municipalities and brings together 6,899,917 copies.
e-library
For its part, Euskadi’s digital library, eLibirutegia, made 121,901 loans last year. In addition, 6,826 new users were registered and 65,686 people are currently registered. August (11,284) was the month in which the most loans were granted and October was the month in which the most recent users registered.
The most borrowed titles on eLiburutegia last year were ‘The Thief of Faces’, by Ibon Martin, ‘Everything Arde’, by Juan Gómez Jurado, ‘Waiting for the Deluge,’ by Dolores Redondo’ and ‘The Cuckoo’s Nest,’ by ‘Camila Läckberg’, in Spanish. In Basque they were ‘Miñan’, by Amets Arzallus and Ibrahima Balde, ‘Bar Gloria’, by Nera Ibarzabal, ‘Eraikuntarako materiala’, by Eider Rodriguez, and ’19 kamera’, by Jon Arretxe.
Currently, eLiburutegia, a service that was launched ten years ago, has 30,631 copies and offers the possibility to watch almost 12,600 films and documentaries. As a novelty, in 2023, audio books were made available to users of the digital library: 569 audio books.
2024-04-22 10:15:35
#Loans #libraries #Euskadi #Public #Reading #network #grown #Basque #Magazine
