Libraries have fewer members but more people are borrowing books, official figures show.
More than 910,000 books were loaned from all libraries last year, up eight per cent over 2016.
Book loans continued to increase between 2015 and 2017, totalling more than 130,000 books over the period. However, new library members dipped from 6,251 in 2015 to 5,119 last year.
The most significant increases were registered in the south-eastern and the northern districts, where loans grew by nearly a fifth, according to Malta Libraries figures.
The public libraries in Żejtun, Qrendi, Marsaxlokk, Gudja and Mqabba had increases of over 20 per cent and those in Żurrieq and Birżebbuġa reported the highest drops – equivalent to 7.4 and 2.2 per cent, respectively.
The highest increases in book loans in the northern district were registered in Għargħur and Mosta, exceeding 30 per cent in both cases.
Book acquisitions – including of the eBook variety – increased by more than two per cent last year. A total of 45,991 new books were put on public library shelves.
According to official data, the main source of acquisition continued to be book donations. In fact, nearly three out of every four books were…
