Over 69M books shelved in Turkish libraries

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Libraries across Turkey contained nearly 69.3 million books as of the end of 2018, the country's statistical authority reported Thursday.

TurkStat said the number of books in Turkish libraries surged 7.43% year-on-year last year, versus some 64.5 million books in 2017.

The institute stated that there were almost 31,500 libraries as of the end of last year -- including one national library and public/university/formal/non-formal education libraries.

"The number of books in the National Library [located in the capital Ankara] was 1,463,488 in 2018 with an [annual] increase of 3.8%.

"Other materials in the National Library was 197,216 in 2018 with an increase of 7% compared to 2017," it said.

In Turkey, there were 191 universities with at least one library and 3.9 million registered members last year.

"The number of university libraries increased by 6% in 2018 compared to 2017 and reached to 598," TurkStat said.

Official figures also revealed that university libraries across the country had 17.6 million books, around 1.7 million bound periodicals, 92 million electronic books, over 700,000 theses, and some 1.2 million other materials.

TurkStat will release next report on libraries in July 2020.