In the Shadow of the Ongoing War: The public libraries of Tel Aviv - Jaffa Municipality present record data for the year 2024, indicating a dramatic growth in the reading volumes of city residents.
The municipal libraries department publishes this morning (Wednesday), data indicating a dramatic increase in the number of readers, loans, and subscribers of the city's residents in 2024. The data points to a trend and reflects the central role of libraries as leading cultural spaces; for example, in the past year, the number of active readers stood at 56,376 - an increase of 28% compared to the previous year.
Sharp Increase in the Number of Library Subscriptions
Despite the digital revolution, there has been a sharp increase in the number of subscriptions to municipal libraries: in 2024, there was an increase of 12,973 new subscribers, a 49% rise compared to 2023. Data on book loans and subscriptions in the digital library continue to break records: in 2024, 75,345 digital loans were recorded, an increase of 54.4% compared to 2023, including 55,442 book loans and 19,903 magazine loans. Additionally, 4,265 active users enjoyed the services of the digital library last year compared to 3,595 in the previous year.
In Tel Aviv Municipality, they note the upgrading of library spaces, investment in technological infrastructure, and data and information management systems as factors leading to significant growth and the aforementioned data. They also mention that there has been a significant improvement in service quality, turning libraries into a welcoming home for diverse cultural activities for the general public. The municipality attributes this growth also to the security situation in the past year, claiming it greatly affected daily life in Israel, leading many residents to seek cultural and emotional refuge through reading and learning, both in community libraries and on digital platforms.
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