Over 100 million visits to public libraries recorded in 2023

Taipei, March 27 (CNA) Over 100 million visits to public libraries across Taiwan were recorded in 2023, a 22.06 million increase from 2022, according to the 2023 Annual Report on Reading Atmosphere and Reading Engagement in Taiwan.

The report's findings were presented at a press conference hosted by National Central Library Director General Wang Han-ching (王涵青) Wednesday.

According to the report, in addition to visits to public libraries, the number of books being loaned in 2023 also surpassed 100 million, reaching 127.90 million, representing an increase of 37.63 percent compared to 2022.

The number of borrowers also rose to 35.28 million, an increase of 5.3 million, or 17.67 percent, over 2022.

The report also found that Taiwanese people borrowed more books in 2023 than in 2022, with the average number of books borrowed per person reaching 5.43, an increase of 1.43 books from 2022.

Taiwanese people also paid 4.62 visits per person to public libraries in 2023, while library card applications reached 21 million, both seeing an increase from 2022.

Meanwhile, ebook borrowings grew to 9.91 million volumes in 2023, an increase of 6.21 percent compared with 2022.

E-Resources access also saw a rise surpassing 136 million, reaching 841.4 million times.

The Chinese translation of "Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones," a New York Times bestseller by James Clear, was the most borrowed book, while the Chinese translation of Korean "King of Science Experiments" manga series made the list of 6-11 years' favorite for the eighth consecutive year.