Number of books in Turkish libraries rises in 2019

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - The number of books in Turkish public libraries increased by 3.9% in 2019, compared to the previous year, to reach 20.7 million, Turkey’s statistical authority announced on Friday.

The number of e-books increased by 6.8% in 2019, reaching 98.3 million, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said in a report.

The country had over 32,411 libraries -- national, public, university and formal and non-formal education libraries -- as of the end of 2019..

The number of public libraries increased by 1.7% in 2019 compared to the previous year and reached 1,182 in 2019.

Meanwhile, the number of registered members of public libraries increased by 39.3% in 2019 compared to 2018, totaling 3.9 million.

"The number of beneficiaries of public libraries increased by 11.4%, reaching 31.4 million," the report said, adding materials in public libraries also increased by 1.4% in 2019 compared to the previous year.

In Turkey, a total of 198 universities have a library, 126 of which are state universities and 72 are foundation universities.