Membership to the Online Library grew again in 2024. The number of items on loan also increased. This is according to preliminary figures released by the KB today. The Online Library is the responsibility of the KB.
The Online Library had 722,000 members in 2024, which is about 114,000 more than the previous year. Together, they borrowed e-books, audiobooks or digital magazines 8.6 million times. This includes 5.8 million e-book loans, 2.6 million audiobook loans and 202,000 digital magazine loans. Compared to 2023, this represents 5% growth for e-books and 14% growth for audiobooks. The most frequently borrowed e-book in 2024 was the novel De Camino by Anya Niewierra. This was also the most borrowed audiobook. Margriet was the most popular magazine.
More young people reached in 2024
Now numbering around 252,000, more and more young people aged 0 to 17 are also members of the Online Library. This represents 19% growth compared to 2023, in which there were 212,000 youth members. These young people enjoy reading books by De Zoete zusjes. De Gorgles and Juf Braaksel are also popular. Moreover, children up to 12 years old are good listeners: audiobooks are most popular among this group.
About the Online Library
The Online Library was established in 2014 and, at that time, it was the first library in Europe from which multiple people could borrow the same e-book at the same time. The collection consisted of 5,000 e-books in 2014 but has since grown to around 46,600. You will also find 14,900 audiobooks and 52 digital magazine titles. The KB is responsible for the Online Library as set out in the Public Library Facilities System Act (Wet stelsel openbare bibliotheekvoorzieningen).
Top 100 most borrowed books
Today, the CPNB Foundation also published the top 100 best-selling and most-borrowed books of 2024. This includes books, e-books and audiobooks.
Want to know more?
Want to know more about the stats and figures? Go to Bibliotheeknetwerk.nl. This is the online knowledge platform for employees of public libraries.
