The document drawn up by the Ministry of Culture, Balance 2021 del Sistema de Lectura Pública de Cataluña, raises some significant points: 1.4 million documents on loan, with demand up 60%, but down 16.6% looking at 2019.
Pandemic restrictions have prevented users from going to public reading places: already, in 2020, 13.35 million users had come, down 46.92%.
With 9.37 million pounds borrowed last year, however, we are approaching the figures for 2019 – with a 4.91% decline. On the other hand, registrations in establishments increase to nearly 4 million users, with 139,618 more people: this is equivalent to half the population of Catalonia.
But the digital book is resolutely doing well: with more than a million documents borrowed, the number of requests will have tripled compared to 2019.
photo credits: Bibliothèque de l’Alguer – Platform for the Language, CC BY SA 4.0
