Greek Library Book Loans Rise for Second Straight Year, Topping 2 Million

Book loans from Greece's public and municipal libraries rose 3.6% in 2025, marking a second consecutive year of growth and underscoring libraries' continued role in expanding access to literature and knowledge, according to data released by Greece's collective rights management organization for written works, OSDEL.

Libraries that reported data

Factoring in libraries that did not submit figures, OSDEL estimates total public and municipal library loans nationwide approached 2 million for the year, excluding school and academic libraries.

Municipal libraries accounted for the majority of loans, at 65.85%, compared with 34.15% for public libraries. OSDEL gathered data from 247 libraries nationwide, though response rates varied significantly by region, with Western and Central Macedonia reporting particularly strong participation. Several libraries said they lacked the technical capacity to export or transmit loan data, highlighting gaps in digital infrastructure.

Adult fiction dominated borrowing patterns, accounting for 44.5% of all loans, followed by children's fiction (17.4%), illustrated children's books (13.7%) and science titles (7%) — together representing more than three-quarters of total loans. Greek authors remained especially popular among readers, led by Eugenios Trivizas, novelist Lena Manta and German writer Jurgen Banscherus.

Readers split fairly evenly between newer and older titles: 24.5% of loans were books published within the last five years, another 24.5% were six to ten years old, and nearly 20% were more than two decades old — reflecting both current releases and libraries' constrained budgets for acquiring the newest titles.

The data comes as OSDEL continues tracking Greece's public lending compensation system, which ensures authors, translators, illustrators and publishers are paid when libraries lend their work, in line with European and national law.

by Katerina Poulopoulou

Διαβάστε περισσότερα στο iefimerida.gr

Book loans from Greece's public and municipal libraries rose 3.6% in 2025, marking a second consecutive year of growth and underscoring libraries' continued role in expanding access to literature and knowledge, according to data released by Greece's collective rights management organization for written works, OSDEL.

Libraries that reported data recorded 876,885 total loans in 2025, up from 846,225 the previous year — an increase of 30,660 loans.

Factoring in libraries that did not submit figures, OSDEL estimates total public and municipal library loans nationwide approached 2 million for the year, excluding school and academic libraries.

Municipal libraries accounted for the majority of loans, at 65.85%, compared with 34.15% for public libraries. OSDEL gathered data from 247 libraries nationwide, though response rates varied significantly by region, with Western and Central Macedonia reporting particularly strong participation. Several libraries said they lacked the technical capacity to export or transmit loan data, highlighting gaps in digital infrastructure.

Adult fiction dominated borrowing patterns, accounting for 44.5% of all loans, followed by children's fiction (17.4%), illustrated children's books (13.7%) and science titles (7%) — together representing more than three-quarters of total loans. Greek authors remained especially popular among readers, led by Eugenios Trivizas, novelist Lena Manta and German writer Jurgen Banscherus.

Readers split fairly evenly between newer and older titles: 24.5% of loans were books published within the last five years, another 24.5% were six to ten years old, and nearly 20% were more than two decades old — reflecting both current releases and libraries' constrained budgets for acquiring the newest titles.

The data comes as OSDEL continues tracking Greece's public lending compensation system, which ensures authors, translators, illustrators and publishers are paid when libraries lend their work, in line with European and national law.

by Katerina Poulopoulou

Διαβάστε περισσότερα στο iefimerida.gr