Libraries in the Netherlands also suffered from the pandemic last year. Not only did the lending of books decrease, the number of organized library activities was also lower in 2021 compared to the previous year. This is reported by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) on Thursday. The contrast with 2019, the year before the corona crisis, is very large.
Before the corona crisis, all public libraries in the Netherlands organized more than 220,000 activities. When the pandemic hit in 2020, that number dropped by more than 35 percent, to 143,000 activities. Last year, it fell another 4 percent from the year before. This can be explained, among other things, because the libraries were forced to close and there were restrictions on visitor numbers during the corona crisis. The number of books that were physically lent also fell sharply. Compared to 2019, more than 35 percent fewer books were borrowed by people last year.
Although the total number of activities decreased further last year, activities focused on education and development have increased. The CBS mentions as a possible explanation that these meetings were allowed again somewhat earlier.
People were less likely to borrow books from the libraries. However, more use was made of the possibility of digitally borrowing e-books and audiobooks. Online lending of e-books grew by more than 40 percent in 2020 compared to the pre-pandemic period. Last year, however, there was again a slight decrease.