In 2022, the websites of the Online Library, the Youth Library and Bibliotheek.nl attracted almost 6.5 million visits. The websites Delpher.nl and the Digital Library of Dutch Literature (DBNL.org) were visited 3.3 and 4.4 million times respectively. These figures were revealed in the 2022 KB National Library of the Netherlands annual report.
The Digital Library of Dutch Literature was particularly popular last year. Visits to this website, which comprises the digital collection of texts from Dutch literature, linguistics and cultural history, rose from 4.2 million in 2021 to 4.4 million in 2022; a rise of almost six percent. Last year, 525 new books and magazine editions were added to DBNL.org.
Digital and physical repository
In December 2022, the National Library’s digital repository celebrated its twentieth anniversary. In 2022, over 48,000 digitised and almost 500,000 born-digital publications were added to this ‘e-depot’. This meant that the collection grew to almost 2 Petabytes, from last year’s record of 1.8 Petabytes. The National Library’s physical collection increased by over 366 metres of bookshelves, thanks to the addition of 16,389 books, 15,785 newspapers and 16,038 magazines. The physical collection of the National Library now fills almost 121 kilometres of bookshelves.
UNESCO documentary heritage
The collection of XS4ALL websites stored by the National Library received special recognition in 2022. UNESCO included this collection of home pages from the period between 1994 and 2001 as documentary heritage in the Memory of the World register. This collection of websites was the first ever born digital heritage to be given the world heritage status.
More BoekStart boxes distributed
The National Library does not only have responsibilities as a heritage and research library, but also fulfils a leading role in the public library system. Promoting reading and providing a continuous reading cycle are some of the programmes in which the National Library is involved. Significant advances were achieved in this area last year. For the first time since its launch in 2012, all Dutch libraries took part in the BoekStart (BookStart) programme (the book promotion programme for 0 to 4-year-olds). This meant that in 2022, 74,500 ‘BookStart suitcases’ were handed out to newborns and toddlers, compared to 57,500 in 2021.
Nationwide IDO coverage
In 2022, extra budget was allocated for public libraries to organise and run the Digital Government Information Points (IDO), taking the number from 433 to 653. All library organisations in the Netherlands now have at least one IDO; a free information point where citizens can ask questions about arranging their digital affairs with the government and its executive bodies.
