Residents in the Netherlands have to travel far to get to the nearest public library

Residents in the Netherlands have to travel on average two kilometers to get to the nearest public library, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported.

The distance residents in the Netherlands have to put behind them to get to the nearest public library increased slightly in recent years. On average, residents in the Netherlands have to travel 100 meters further to get to the closest public library in 2020 than they did in 2014.

Despite the distance to the close public library only rising slightly in the past few years, the number of borrowed books sunk significantly from 69 million in 2015 to 43 million in 2020.

Library members seemed to prefer borrowing books online. The number of digital book loans rose from four million in 2015 to ten million in 2020. Coronavirus measures were likely responsible for the rise in digital loans, CBS stated.

The distance to the nearest public library can heavily depend on where you live. Residents of Schiermonnikoog, for example, only have to go 600 meters to get to the closest public library, whereas in Noord-Beveland, residents have to put behind them 14.4 kilometers.

The largest increase in distance to the nearest public library in the past six years was found in the municipality of Montfoort in Utrecht. Montfoort residents had to travel five times further to get to the closet public library in 2020 than they did six years earlier.