Libraries report increase in book loans and visitors

Patrons checked out 38.8 million items in 2024, which is 2.5 million more than in 2023

- Elisha Tushara

People in Singapore are reaching for more books at public libraries, with borrowing figures climbing steadily in 2024.

Library patrons checked out 38.8 million physical and digital items in 2024, which is 2.5 million more than in 2023, according to the National Library Board's (NLB) year-in-review report, which was released on April 4.

Woodlands Regional Library emerged as the most visited library, drawing 1.39 million visitors in 2024, surpassing Punggol Regional Library, which topped the charts the year before.

Overall, footfall across NLB's 28 libraries, the National Archives of Singapore, and the Former Ford Factory also saw a boost, rising to 20.8 million in 2024, from 19.8 million in 2023.

While more people visited libraries, digital use—the number of page views of NLB's websites and the use of subscribed electronic books and databases—dropped by more than a quarter to 89.2 million, compared with 121.2 million in 2023.

Books 27 and 1 of The Almost Complete Collection Of True Singapore Ghost Stories nabbed the first and third spots respectively in the adult category of the top three physical books borrowed.

Comic artist Huang Zhanming's The Celestial Zone X.II in Chinese clinched second place.