An addition of over 260,000 digital collection items, that made our digital collection grow to 8.4 million objects. Almost 4 million digitised pages to preserve the paper heritage of the Netherlands for the future. And impressive visitor numbers for Delpher.nl, DBNL.org and the Online Library. As the annual report shows, the KB had a good digital year in 2025.
Delpher was used 3.6 million times by 6% of the Dutch population. And DBNL was used over 7 million times by 7% of all Dutch people. The number of websites archived by the KB grew to a total of 24,599. The archiving of Dutch Wikipedia drew particular attention. The number of loans, the number of members as well as the collection of the Online Library also increased.
A source of pride, but action also required
Director General Wilma van Wezenbeek is proud of what was achieved in 2025. Yet she also clearly sees where action is still required. "The KB preserves Dutch written heritage to record future history. In the Netherlands, we do not yet sufficiently realise that written heritage also includes what we publish online. Dutch Wikipedia is one such asset that shows the importance of archiving the Dutch .nl domain. The KB is therefore pleased that the government wants to change the law to allow us to store all Dutch .nl websites. As far as we’re concerned, this cannot happen fast enough. Otherwise, we will keep losing digital heritage."
Physical growth too
The KB also experienced physical growth in 2025. Over 51,000 people visited the reading room or attended a KB event. This is up from last year’s number of 47,000. For example, they came to KB Lectures and the ‘On the Spot’ discussion series or conducted research in the new Knowledge Quarter. The physical collection grew by 340 metres of stocked bookshelves. The KB is building a sustainable new repository for these books, newspapers and magazines. The first pile went into the ground in 2025.
IDO Growth
In 2025, there were also 164,591 queries at Digital Government Information Points (IDO). That is around 34,000 more than last year. These information points are for people who have questions about using digital government services. The KB supports public libraries in offering these services at the local level.
"This increase shows that society's need for digital help is very high – and growing. Together with the libraries, the KB will continue its efforts to enable all Dutch citizens to participate in a society that is becoming increasingly digital and therefore more complex for many. In the coming years, the KB will remain committed to increasing digital resilience – both as an organisation and in society," says Van Wezenbeek.
Download the annual report and highlights (in Dutch)
- KB jaarverslag 2025 (pdf) (1.77 MB)
- Highlights KB Jaarverslag 2025 (pdf) (1.82 MB)
