The number of libraries across Türkiye varying from the national, public and university to formal and nonformal education library types has surged by 43.4% year-over-year in 2022, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced on Wednesday.
With one national library, 1,257 public, 625 university libraries, and 47,654 libraries affiliated with formal and nonformal education institutions, the total number of libraries has reached 49,537 in 2022, according to the report.
Libraries in formal and nonformal education institutions witnessed a particular rise, recording a remarkable growth of 45.8% in 2022.
At the same time, the number of books in Turkish libraries rose by 14.5% when compared to a year ago, the report highlighted.
According to TurkStat, the number of books in the national library totaled 1.63 million, increasing by 5.6% when compared to 2021.
At the same time, with a spike of 4.6%, university libraries across the country had nearly 21.1 million books last year.
Public libraries had nearly 23.09 million books, and formal and nonformal education libraries had approximately 43.9 million books in the last year, posting the highest increase of 28.1% year-on-year.
TurkStat's annual report also revealed that the number of beneficiaries from the services provided by the national library in the same period increased by 125.7% reaching the figure of 405,584 people. In addition, the increase in non-book and educational materials rose by 2.5% in 2022.
Similarly, the number of citizens who turned to public libraries has increased by 70.8% and reached the figure of 26.7 million. Public libraries posted a surge in the number of members registered, which with an increase of 13.7%, has crossed the figure of 5.5 million people.
This year's report additionally revealed that the number of e-books, a prevalent reading method amongst the population in the last couple of years, rose by 2.6% when considering university libraries and reached the figure of approximately 96 million. Similarly, university libraries had approximately 3.98 million members in 2022, posting an annual increase of 9.5%.
Out of 625 university libraries across Türkiye, 475 libraries are located within state university grounds, and 150 of them were affiliated with foundation universities.
Through the initiatives primarily launched by the National Ministry of Education (MEB), improving standards and boosting activities promoting literacy and reading, it is aimed to increase the number of individuals visiting libraries, and also provide equal educational opportunities.
With projects such as the "No school without library" implemented with support from the MEB and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, hundreds of libraries were added to schools across Türkiye.