More people visiting Danish libraries

Total number of visits increased by 1.7 million last year compared to 2014

Lucie Rychla

The number of people using library services in Denmark is surging.

Last year, the total number of visits rose by 1.7 million to 37.7 million compared to 2014.

The increase has mainly been attributed to longer opening hours and more events at the libraries.

“Libraries’ opening hours have been adapted to people’s busy lives, and this has made them much more attractive,” Carl Gustav Johannsen, a library researcher and lecturer at the University of Copenhagen, told DR.

READ MORE: Free e-books from Danish public libraries are a smashing hit

Some 1.9 million people borrowed at least one physical book in 2015, 85,000 more than the year before as the total number of borrowed books rose by 185,000 to 30.4 million.

Although the number of physical book loans fell, the ‘eReolen’ online portal for e-books registered 4.8 million visits in 2015 – more than double compared to 2014.

The libraries held 20,360 events last year, compared to 18,630 in 2014, and were open for 1,000 hours longer.

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