The library in Emmeloord will also receive more money and visitors will have more say

Also read this article: Millions of euros extra to municipalities to keep libraries accessible to everyone

3.4 million members

Between 2012 and 2021, libraries in the Netherlands lost more than 650,000 members. After the corona years, the number of members is increasing slightly again, currently there is a total of 3.4 million. The number of visits (not just members) fell from 63 million in 2019 to 36 million in 2020. After the corona dip, the library was again visited a lot: in 2022 there were more than 50 million visitors in all branches. This also includes visitors who are not members.

The library has been rediscovered due to the corona crisis, says Klaas Gravesteijn. “I was not much of a reader,” says Klaas Veldstra, retired structural engineer. He takes a brochure from a library employee in Emmeloord, in the Noordoostpolder. Veldstra likes coming to the library and is considering taking out a subscription again. The library in Emmeloord is a quiet, homely place. Here and there a visitor chooses a book, a few sit behind one of the many computers and someone reads the newspaper and drinks a cup of coffee.

Traditionally, we have been very supply-oriented. Now the question is: resident, what do you want?

Lucienne Kelfkens director-manager

There is a language point in the corner of the library; for newcomers who want to learn Dutch. People also come to the library from the registration center at Luttelgeest, says manager De Jong-Oosterink. “To check their email here, to print something out, but also for digital practice programs to learn Dutch.”

Young people are also increasingly finding their way to the library. Thanks to a new book culture on social media such as TikTok, some young people are taking up reading as a hobby again. “Here we had a number of young girls who said: we really like to read young adult books in English and we have very good ideas about what kind of books you should have,” says manager De Jong-Oosterink. “So they now help determine what is in the collection.”

At the entrance to the library there are self-borrowing desks and a long table with chairs. At the end of the table is a coffee bar, part of the gift shop that flows into the library. Kleurkracht, a gift shop where people with intellectual disabilities sell homemade candles and trinkets.

The library bus no longer runs

It is a nice, social place, says supervisor Leonie Hofman. The gift shop is part of a daytime activity and creative studio across the road, Hofman points out. She comes from Kuinre herself, just fifteen minutes by car. The library in Kuinre is a service point at a primary school. The library is open on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons between two and five. The nearest full-fledged library is in Emmeloord.

According to figures from Statistics Netherlands, the Noordoostpolder (with its capital Emmeloord) is the municipality with the fourth greatest distance to a public library. For the residents of the Noordoostpolder, the library in Emmeloord is the only library in the area. Surrounding polder villages such as Creil, Marknesse and Bant have no branches or service points. In the past there was a library bus, but it was canceled after about fifty years due to the budget cuts in 2012. “If you stand somewhere for 45 minutes, four people come and you sit there with two people in such a bus for safety reasons, then you have to make realistic choices,” says manager De Jong-Oosterink.

A school library was set up at a number of schools in the small villages. “Not just for reading during school: they can also borrow books.” The ‘library at home’ was created for the elderly. Volunteers arrange books for people who can no longer go to the library independently.

Thanks to a new book culture on social media such as TikTok, some young people are taking up reading as a hobby again

Due to the large distances in the polder, it is common to take the car, explains Emmeloorder IJsbrand Haven. Extra money for the libraries does not mean that full-fledged branches will be added in smaller towns, says director of FlevoMeer Library Kelfkens. According to her, what is needed differs per location: such as extending opening hours or supporting local social projects.

Kelfkens sees the library as a neutral, inspiring learning environment. “We should not touch politics, we should not touch education, we are not care providers. The library must be an accessible, neutral and reliable institution of the community.” She believes that art and culture should also play an important role.

Klaas Gravesteijn, director of the Association of Public Libraries, thinks that the library can help combat divisions in society. “The library is a place where everyone is welcome. And if you are in your bubble and do not meet each other, it is less easy to understand each other.” According to him, the library is still under financial pressure, but “people are increasingly recognizing the library in its new guise.”